Guardians and Gods
by FierceFalcon
Summary: When it came to retribution, Sai wouldn't stop until she had it. It wasn't enough that her trust was hard earned, he had to go and make it worse. After everything they'd been through, he turned on her too. At least her thirst for his blood would benefit all three worlds. However, in her weakened state, what hope does she have of accomplishing anything at all?
1. Chapter 1: Alone in the Dark

_**Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho and it's canon are the creation and property of Yoshihiro Togashi. The events and characters of the series will be used within this FanFiction, perhaps with alterations to suit the story's needs. Canon from both the Manga and Anime may be used.**_

 _ **Original characters and events are the creation of and property of FierceFalcon.**_

 _ **This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any Resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locals is entirely coincidental.**_

 _ **Trigger Warnings: This chapter contains violence and minor implications of torture.**_

 _ **Rated M for language, violence, torture, self harm, gore, and the possibility for lemons and/or limes in the future (not guaranteed).**_

* * *

Chapter 1

 _Alone in the Dark_

* * *

Darkness pushed in from all directions, surrounding and threatening to consume her. No matter which way she turned, she was greeted with emptiness. Not even the sound of her steps reached her ears as she walked. At least, she _thought_ she was walking. It was easy enough to comprehend the gesture and assume her feet would obey as she turned and wondered aimlessly.

What was this? _Where_ was this?

Typically, she had absolutely no problems seeing through darkness. This...was something absolutely different. There was not even a tiny fraction of light, it was as if the emptiness had sucked it all in to black out the world around her. She couldn't even see the nose in front of her own face. It was maddening. Not only could she not see, she couldn't hear anything, either.

What the _hell_ was going on?

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open in a daze. Although it was dark, this was nothing in comparison to the emptiness she had been exposed to in the previous hours. She felt exhausted, as if every bit of her strength had simply been drained from her. She was thankful for the lack of bright lighting, she wasn't sure her eyes could take it. She wanted to hold her head, but as she attempted to move her hand she heard rattling. " _Chains?"_ She thought, confused. She couldn't recall where she was, or how she'd gotten here.

Her attention turned up to her hands, noticing that they were stretched out over her head. There was a dim glow radiating from beneath the shackles pressing into her wrists, attached to a mere two or three links of chain to a stony surface. The glow was faint, barely capable of illuminating the flesh around her wrists. She tried to shift her legs, but the results proved to be the same as her arms.

Panic struck, causing her eyes to snap wide open. Her head whipped down in the direction of her feet, jerking her legs in a futile attempt to move them. The results remained the same. Just as were her wrists, her ankles were locked in tight shackles that glowed beneath the cold of the steel. Her breathing became erratic as she flexed her muscle, pulling against both pairs of shackles with all her might.

This _should_ have been a simple task. Chains couldn't hold her!

Her jaw locked down on itself, grinding her teeth together as the metal cut deep into both her wrists and ankles as she struggled. Her lips pulled back into a snarl, her attention jerking up to her wrists. If she couldn't beat this with brute strength, _fine_. She tried to reach into herself to tap into her energy, as she had done countless times before. It was easy, one might even say it was effortless. Yet, for some reason, she felt as if she had no energy.

Panic turned to pure hysteria. Her fingers curling into her palms, cutting deep into the flesh. Her attention turned around the room while bubbles of blood oozed between her fingers. She couldn't recall being brought to this place at all, nor could she remember by whom. " _Think. Think."_ She repeated over and over again in her head, even as she continued to examine the bare contents of her make-shift prison.

She rattled her brain, still struggling to free herself from her bindings. How had her day began? She couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary.

* * *

 _Her day hadn't started off as anything unusual. Routine patrol and reconnaissance. She had been given explicit orders regarding a particular stronghold that was causing her commanding officer to have a fit. So, as was to be expected, she was chosen for the mission._

Don't do anything reckless. Keep your head down and don't get caught. _He told her._

 _As per usual, she had boasted her confidence. Laughing with a pure sense of unfiltered joy and arrogance._ Me, get caught? Have you forgotten who you're talking to?

 _She had always been confident, and she never failed to call it 'one of her many charms'. She was considerably bold, daring, and (you guessed it) reckless with hardly any care or concern. Although, admittedly, she had gotten better over her years of service._

 _She laughed as she recalled the conversation, lifting her hand to muffle the sound and cut it short. Her eyes glittered with her amusement. "As if anyone could bring **me** down. Hah!" She said, throwing her head back with her short, mock burst of laughter. She even rolled her eyes._

 _This mission seemed far too easy for her tastes. Hours of sneaking around, with direct orders not to be so much as seen. How_ boring _. Her entire life was dedicated to danger, endless thrills and high risks. Why should now be any different?_

 _She'd accounted for many demons scattered around the outskirts of the stronghold. Most too_ insignificant _to locate her suppressed power. Of course they couldn't! She was far too good at her job, even if this job_ was _far below her typical standards._

 _She had a nagging feeling itching at the back of her mind. She couldn't put her finger on. She found a suitable place to pause for a moment, crouching low in a thicket of brush. Something felt wrong, in the purest sense of the word. It was as if ants had somehow managed to burrow beneath her skin and started to crawl around, causing goosebumps to blanket across her flesh. She took the moment to rub her hands along her arms. Something was terribly wrong._

 _She took another moment to slowly flex a small portion of her energy, reaching out into the surrounding area to examine it for the demons she had previously located._

 _She was surprised to find absolutely_ nothing _. Not a trace, or even a glimmer. There was no way they could have moved off her radar so quickly. Her body tensed, quickly withdrawing her energy. Her muscles flexed as the woman curled back into a position not unlike a cobra poised and ready to strike. Her mind was entirely blank, focused on listening to the sounds around her for anything unnatural._

 _She had to give it to them. Not only could they hide from her spiritual awareness, but they could almost hide from her physical senses, too. If it hadn't been for an abrupt shift in the wind, they would have been successful in a surprise attack._

 _Thankfully, she could guarantee no one had a nose that was as sharp as hers. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up, disappearing in a blur of motion as if she had never been there. Only a moment later was she poised within a high tree, wild eyes staring down at the fools whom dared attack her. The spot where she had been only seconds ago had, so to say, spontaneously combusted. Of course, that was due to the amount of energy that had been put behind a punch. The culprit had no problem catching up to her, peeling his lips back in a most unnatural way as he stood to face her in full._

 _His lips split all the way back on his jaw, halting just before a pair of too-large and pointed ears. In combination with a set of teeth that were better fit for a shark, the sight was particularly sickening. She couldn't stop her face from twisting in a crude sense of disgust. He looked like a walking corpse, and smelled even worse._

 _She hardly had the time to process more of his physical attributes before he sprang forward, a blur of speed and far too much confidence for a power she considered to be_ _minuscule in comparison to her own._

 _She would have laughed at him. Her body acted of it's own accord, muscles coiling and flexing as her legs pushed down with a violent burst of brute strength to launch her back in the direction of the ground. Her attacker left to strike nothing but the branch she had been perched on beforehand. Her hands reached out in front of her, landing flat upon the ground. In a show of simple grace, she had rolled back to her feet and spun. Poised once more as a ready-to-strike cobra._

 _"Are you simply stupid, or do you have a death wish?" She actually did laugh this time, pushing herself to her feet as her zombie-like assailant hopped back to the ground with her. She took the time to study her nails, an undeniable sign of disinterest._

 _That earned a snarl from him. The action incredibly over exaggerated by the unnatural feature of his lips._

 _Again, she laughed at him when he charged forward. This time however, she didn't simply just run away from the attack. Instead, she elegantly stepped out of danger's reach, if only just enough to avoid immediate contact._

 _It happened in a mere blur of color. One moment, she was being attacked. The next, a headless corpse lurched forward with the continued momentum of his running body before tumbling to the ground.  
_

 _The missing head dangled in her hands, expression frozen in a rage. The poor fool hadn't even realized what had happened. She transfered the head into one bloody hand, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum in the direction of it's body. "You poor thing." She cooed in a too-sweet manner that was laced with false pity. Mocking a dead man, how classy._

 _With the flick of her wrist, the head was tossed onto it's body. With the hand not splattered with the blood of yet another victim, she flipped her hair over her shoulder with a_ humph.

 _"Can nothing give me a good challenge these days?" She asked herself, lifting her hands to shoulder level as she shrugged._

 _She'd had a smile on her lips when she turned on her toes. However, what she saw had been behind her made that smile falter. Her confusion was obvious, clearly written across her face in an unfiltered expression. She quickly regained her composure, brushing aside her confusion to replace it with a smug sense of satisfaction. "I didn't expect to see you here, of all places." She spoke as if the figure before her were some type of friend. Without a hint of suspicion or accusation._

 _"I could say the same for you." He'd said to her, offering up one of her favorite smiles._

 _She returned the smile without hesitation, crossing her arms over her chest as she cocked her hip._

 _"What_ are _you doing here?" He continued on with the curious tip of his head._

 _She lifted her shoulder in a lazy shrug, dropping one of her arms to place upon her hip with the bloodied hand lifted to twirl in a circular motion. "Orders. Sir Piddle Pants is spooked, so I'm investigating for him."_

 _There was a flash of something that passed quickly in his eyes, and his expression turned downward. She tipped her head curiously, completely oblivious to the reason behind his sudden dissatisfaction._

 _"What's wrong?" She asked after a time, taking the initiative since it didn't seem as though he was going to do so on his own._

 _His eyes fell shut, and he seemed..._ _dismal. She was about to speak again, however his voice rang clear in the gloomy air. "I'm sorry you had to get wrapped up in this. It was my intention to keep you out of it."_

 _Confusion returned in full force as she processed his words. She didn't even know what_ this _was yet. "What do you mean?"_

 _He shook his head at her, taking enough time to let tension settle into her body as she began to grow frustrated with his silence. Patience was never one of her strong points._

 _"I'm sorry." Was the only reply she got._

 _"Sorry for wh-" She hadn't even had time to finish her sentence before he was directly in front of her. Thanks to her familiarity with him, she had lowered her guard. She hadn't been expecting him to retaliate against her, he would never do that! But he had, in full force. She lost her breath all at once when his powerful fist connected with her_ _solar plexus, knocking her off her feet and through more than just one or two trees. She hadn't even been able to catch her breath before she hit the ground, and he was standing over her when she curled into a fetal position._

 _Her mind hadn't caught up, and certainly wasn't able to comprehend why he had done such a thing. He knelt next to her, reaching a hand forth to tightly wrap around her throat. She hadn't even started breathing again, and he had already cut off her airway. The last thing she remember before that emptiness had consumed her was his voice, thick with darkness and something else that she couldn't place. "Sleep." He had told her. And then he had brought his fist down upon her temple, not sparing her even a twinge of sympathy._

* * *

That's right! _He_ did this to her! He was the reason she was here! Where ever the hell _here_ was. Her confusion was replaced with a sense of anger. Red winked into her vision as she thrashed against her bindings. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even touch her energy, and it seemed as if her strength had been depleted as well.

"How could he!" She shouted, the sound of her voice echoing off the walls to accompany the fruitless rattling of chains. An animalistic snarl ripped itself free from her. Typically, it was catastrophic for her to experience this level of pure _rage_. If it hadn't have been _him_ then she wouldn't be in this situation.

"Bastard!" She shouted, yanking and pulling against her shackles and causing them to cut deep into her flesh. The stinging pain that should have greeted her didn't register at all. Her adrenalin had kicked into overdrive as she thrashed. "How could you do this to me?!"

It was no use. It didn't matter what she did, her bindings didn't give. Not even an inch.

She didn't know how long she had struggled. Without even a window, she couldn't even use a natural source of light to anticipate the time of day. It had only felt like such a few short minutes, but she was exhausted. Completely drained of her physical strength. Her body ached, and her head felt as if it were about to burst. She must have been at it for hours. Her body sagged against the table, her head falling back against the cold stone with a rush of air.

She stared up at the ceiling as if she could cause it to burst into flame. Her face contorted in an expression fitting for the sheer sense of hatred she felt.

Now that her body was spent, it felt as if the time ticked by painfully slow. She was so tired...Tired? She didn't get tired! She drew in a slow, deep breath. Her face twisting in a show of disgust. She hadn't been tired in so long, she had practically forgotten when it felt like.

Silence overtook the small chamber once the echoing had died down. Not even the ominous drip-drip-drip of water from a faucet.

* * *

This didn't make sense. The more she thought about it in the passing hours, the more it fueled her anger. None of this made any fucking sense! Her strength wasn't coming back, to start things off. She couldn't tap into her energy, which wouldn't have bothered her half as much if she couldn't _feel_ it being dangled just out of her reach. However, the thing that ate away at her the most was the fact all of this was because of _him_.

She hadn't even picked up on the presence that had slipped into the room with her. She had started struggling again, despite the fatigue that plagued her body.

"My, my, my. Aren't you just determined?" The voice rang out like bells, echoing off the walls in a painfully high pitched tone that was far too cheerful for the situation.

Her eyes snapped open, wide and wild and pointed directly at the source of the offense sound. Her new company was someone she didn't recognize, not even in the slightest.

Even with the lack of lighting, it was easy for her to make out the features of her newest form of company. Tiny, more so than she would be, and she was fairly small in comparison to those of average stature. Pale, almost chalky white, skin. Hair that was so dark a shade of red that it looked black without the light. The eyes were what were most noticeable, practically glowing like headlights with their neon yellow color with pupils fitting for a serpent.

Female, definitely female. If the voice hadn't given it away, the body certainly did.

She sneered at her new company. Even bound as she was, she still managed to look down her nose at this woman as if she were no more than a bug.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You're an honored guest here, you know!" The voice of the stranger laughed after she spoke.

She couldn't stop herself from peeling her lips back in a snarl. Baring her teeth like some cornered animal.

The laughing didn't stop for some time, and by then she had started growling.

"Come now, dear Sai. We're friends, aren't we?" The mysterious woman chimed.

The fact that this woman knew her name only succeeded in furthering her anger. _If looked could kill._ Was the only thing that Sai could think of. "Where the fuck am I?" She snapped.

The woman before her took on the expression of a pouting toddler. "I'm sorry, deary, I can't tell you that. The Master would be furious with me!"

Master? Who was the master? A deep, low growl rumbled in her chest. The sound was an odd one. It sounded like a mixture of canine with the addition of the chattering of a rattlesnake's tail.

"Oooo. Sca-a-ary!" The woman mocked her before laughing.

Sai was seriously beginning to hate the sound of joy. This woman _should_ be afraid. Instead, she was being mocked!

"We'll have to do something to show you your place, here." The woman twittered, giggling like a little school girl.

If that didn't mean something, nothing would. Sai snorted in a most unlady like fashion. "Do your worst." As if she hadn't been in this situation before. If some twittering pixie thought she could the reaction she wanted? Sai was the one to bark out a burst of mock laughter.

Her unwelcomed company didn't seem to like that at all, considering her face had twisted into a scowl. "How dare you laugh at me!" She screeched at Sai, lunging forward with her claws outstretched.

Sai's laughter was cut short as pain rocketed through her side, and she sucked in a sharp breath and clenched her jaw. Lips pressed into a thin line as she curled her fingers into her palm and jerked against her chains. Naturally, her body wanted to retaliate against the assault. However, bound as she was, she could only lay there and endure this session of torture.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Greetings one and all! I must apologize for a rather uninformative first chapter. I was hoping to accomplish some sort of mysterious element to start us off with! Have no fear, though. As this story unravels, there will certainly be answers all around! As of this moment, I plan for this story to be an**_ **eventual _Hiei x Sai pairing. It may not develop as quickly as some people may like, but considering personality traits between both characters, it can be nothing but gradual._**

 ** _I'll attempt to update this story at least once a week. Some weeks may experience more chapter uploads, while potentially there may be a week where a chapter isn't uploaded at all. Any and all reviews are welcomed!_**


	2. Chapter 2: Lose Yourself

.

Chapter 2

 _Lose Yourself_

* * *

Three weeks. For three weeks Sai had been tortured, and she _still_ didn't know what was expected of her. Not that she had a way to keep track of the passage of time. Did that twittering pixie expect her to talk? Hah! That woman better step her game up. It wasn't her first rodeo, and she certainly was all too familiar with methods of torture. That ghostly woman didn't know a _thing_ about pain!

 _"Just wait until I get out of here."_ Sai growled as she thought.

Every day, that same woman would come to her. Babbling on and on about this and that. She had pretended not to be interested, but it was hard not to hear every detail. Not to say that this babbling granted her any form of peace. The pixie talked _and_ carved on her body like an open canvas while she did it. During all that time, she had refused to scream. At least she could satisfy herself in some small aspect this way. Denying her pitiful excuse for company the pleasure of the sound was the least she could do. At least, until she passed out, anyway.

It had been no different than the last time she had awoken. Her energy was still just out of her reach, being dangled in front of her face so close she could almost touch it. Almost being the key word. Thanks to her regular company, she still hadn't learned the pixie's name, she had learned that the shackles that held her tight to this blasted stone table were the reason she couldn't reach her energy. They were also the reason her physical strength was practically useless, they used _her own_ energy against her.

As she had become accustomed to, when she first woke up she was alone. Typically, being alone was something that she could enjoy. However, in the time of her captivity, she had grown to hate the solitude. Although, not nearly as much as the pixie that regularly inflicted pain upon her. She would have absolutely loved to know why she was being held here, and _where_ here was.

Her nose stung from not only being assaulted with the smell of her own sweat and blood, but an assortment of vile fluids that had been forced upon her. Her clothes hadn't been spared any assault, either. If she'd hoped for any form of modesty, she would have been sourly disappointed. She was far passed the point of caring about her state of undress, considering she had much more to worry about.

If she'd thought she was exhausted when she'd first awoken in the hell hole, she was wrong. Now, she was so tired that she could barely manage to open her eyes. Staring in a lazy fashion up at the bare ceiling. She'd given up talking, considering her regular company did more than enough for the both of them. To her disappointment, she was never given any useful information. She could hardly manage to register her own thoughts anymore.

Today, she had expected the usual routine. Wake up, lay in silence for a short time, and then be subjected to the same pains as usual.

Today...wasn't exactly going to go as she had originally expected.

When the door creaked open with a hiss and whine, she paid no mind to whomever it had been to step in. Continuing to stare up silently at the ceiling, quickly coming to grasp the fact that her short moments of peace had come to an end for the day. Normally, that woman would have begun to babble immediately. When the shrill voice didn't split the air, she'd thought she'd only imagined the sound of the door. She had picked up an annoying habit of hallucinating in the silence.

"It's rude not to say hello, you know."

The voice she'd heard this time was definitely not female. In fact, it had startled her. She'd come to think she was still alone, and hadn't realized her eyes had fallen shut until they popped wide open. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could have sworn her blood ran cold. Why was _he_ here? Hadn't he already done enough? Bastard!

She sucked in a sharp breath before turning her head towards her newest form of company. All the hate she could muster up burned deep in her eyes, and the man before her sighed heavily. His shoulders slouched, and he was giving her a look of sympathy. He didn't deserve to look at her like that, and it suddenly made her blood run hot as hate quickly boiled into loathing.

"Don't look at me like that." He spoke softly. She was grateful for that, at least. With how quietly he spoke, it spared her aching head a little less pain.

"Why shouldn't I? _You're_ the reason I'm here." She hissed through her teeth at him.

She heard a heavy sigh, and barely registered the sound of his footsteps as he walked closer. Her emotions were running wild, and the only thing on her mind was _You are going to pay for this._

She tried to lunge at him, flexing her muscles in an attempt to ready herself for an attack, but her shackles were still just as strong as ever.

"Don't hate me. I already told you that I didn't want you involved, but you forced my hand by snooping around." He told her, giving her a look of such pity.

She didn't want his fucking pity! She wanted to rip his god damned throat out. Looking at her the way that he did wouldn't soften her, if that's what he was hoping to accomplish.

She was surprised when he stripped off his shirt. Wedging his arm around the back of her shoulder while he held one of the sleeves. She unwillingly aided him in the task when she jerked her body upward, trying to keep at much distance between them as absolutely possible. He grabbed the sleeve with his other hand before pulling his arm from beneath her. Silently tying the sleeves together at the side of her chest. Once he'd completed that task, he grabbed the bottom edges of the fabric, pulling it down. Given their differences in size, the fabric easily stretched down to her knees.

Well, at least she had some form of modesty, now. She flopped back against the stone with a grunt, her eyes still burning with hatred.

He reached up to brush his knuckles against her cheek.

That was his mistake. She jerked her head in the direction of his hand, her teeth found purchase in his wrist. They easily broke skin, thanks to her dangerously pointed fangs. He jerked away with a hiss, ripping away bits of his wrist as he did so. She spat the torn flesh straight up into his face, baring her fleshly bloodied teeth at him with a snarl.

Aside from the odd sound of her growl echoing from the walls, that combination of canine and rattlesnake, there was silence. For a short time, anyway.

He'd sighed at her. Actually managing to _somehow_ sound defeated in such a simple action. "Perhaps I should leave you alone. Ayame will be by shortly." With that, he had turned to walk away from her.

"The fact you're letting this happen only makes me _hate_ you more!" Sai shouted at his back, her voice cracking near the end of her statement.

He didn't even pause, not even for a second, and closed the door with the quiet hiss and creak of hinges that were long over-due for some oiling.

* * *

"Binky Breath better have a good reason for this. I had to close down my shop early, Keiko is going to kill me!" Griped the young man as he stomped up the stone stairs. He'd done nothing but complain the entire ride here. Dressed in a pair of loose blue jeans with a plain white T tucked under the waist band and secured with a belt, topped off with a dark navy blue wind breaker. As was to be expected, his hair was greased back in the typical fashion.

"Oh, lighten up Urameshi. He wouldn't have called us all the way out here without good reason." The taller man climbing the stairs next to him said, dressed in a very similar fashion as his friend.

"He better not have, or I'll kick his ass!" Yusuke shouted as he reached the top of the stairs. Someone was bound to hear him, and that's exactly what he wanted. Yet, the only greeting they got was from the wind.

Yusuke slumped forward, his shoulders sagging with a heavy sigh. "C'mon, Kuwabara. Grandma and Pacifier Mouth are probably in the tea room."

The younger of the two men knew this temple like the back of his own hand. He had practically lived here, after all. The duo crossed the courtyard in silence, with the smaller of the two leading the way once they slid open the traditional styled paper door. It was a series of long hallways and turns, easy enough for Yusuke to navigate. Anyone who wasn't accustomed to the temple would have easily gotten lost.

Yusuke threw open the sliding door with far too much force, if the resounding _crack_ was any evidence at all.

"Don't break my doors, Dimwit!" The old lady shouted to her apprentice, leveling him with a wicked glare.

Yusuke's hesitant grin was the only thing he offered in apology as he rubbed at the back of his head.

If there had been any other conversation in the room before, it had clearly fallen silence with Yusuke's unconventional entrance. All eyes were on him. To say the detective was surprised by the faces he saw would have been an understatement. He'd been prepared for the old lady and Reikai Prince, even the bubbly Grim Reaper, but not the two additional faces that stared in his direction in addition.

"Hah! Well this is unexpected, what brings you guys here?" Yusuke spoke with a sort of cheeriness in his voice, grinning widely at the red head and three-eyed wonder boy.

"Koenma seemed to believe this was a matter of great importance. He was very adamant in our participation." The red head spoke, turning his attention to the teenage form of the prince.

"Yes, now hurry up and sit down. I want to get this out of the way as soon as possible." The Prince barked, a clear expression of urgency plastered all over his face.

"Yeah, yeah, Pacifier Mouth. Chill out, already." Yusuke huffed, slouching as he drug his feet over to sit on one of the supplied mats.

"This isn't a time to be fooling around, Yusuke!" Koenma snapped at the young adult as Kuwabara slid the door closed behind him and took the last remaining mat to Yusuke's right.

Yusuke's demeanor didn't change, and he proceeded to cross his arms behind his head while taking on a bored expression. "What's the big deal, anyway?" He gripped.

All eyes fell on the Prince, who's expression seemed further troubled then it had been before. He didn't immediately speak, and the longer the silence stretched the more anxious Yusuke seemed to grow.

Finally, Koenma let out a deep sigh. "Nearly a month ago, I sent one of my operatives to gather some information for me."

"What's that got to do with us?" Yusuke gripped, his face twisting into an expression of annoyance. He even poked his lips out to one side.

"I'm getting there!" Snapped the Prince, sending a glare towards the man.

Koenma cleared his throat. "Normally, I don't bother checking in with this particular operative. However, something was bothering me, and when I went to locate the operative on my surveillance videos...I found this." The Prince produced a video cassette from the depths of his robes, offering it off to the Grim Reaper.

At first, she seemed surprised. Staring down at the video before plucking it out of Koenma's hand. Shuffling to the old school television that had been wheeled in earlier this morning. She slid the cassette into the player, shuffling back while her attention remained on the screen. All eyes were focused on the television as the static fizzled to life.

When the cassette caught up with itself, there was an image that blurred to life. It focused on a woman. She was drawing in heavy breaths in and out of her mouth, considering it didn't appear as if her broken nose was capable of doing the task. Her lips were split, teeth bloody, and one of her eyes were nearly swollen shut. The only thing that appeared to be covering her body was a bloody white t-sheet tied off to one side, under one of her arms.

Kuwabara was the only one to vocally react, if one didn't include the Grim Reaper's dramatic gasp and her hands darting up to cover her mouth. The carrot-topped oaf shot an index finger at the screen, "Gah! She's covered in blood!"

"Nice observation, dumb ass. Anything else you want to point out to the class?" Yusuke couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Shut up and pay attention!" Koenma barked, sending the both of them a glare.

There was only a bit of grumbling before silence overtook the occupants of the room, all attention settled on the stomach churning video before them.

Despite her condition, the woman didn't appear to be afraid at all. If anything, she looked angry. Her jaw snapped shut quickly, lips peeling back while a savage snarl pulled itself from the depths of her throat. Her attention seemed to be settled on something just out of the camera angel's view. It was clear that whatever it was, the beaten woman wasn't happy to see it. Her muscles flexed, violently jerking at the shackles. It made her chains rattle, and the glow from under the metal grew brighter as she struggled.

There was a far too cheery sound that came next. A laugh that sounded like a chorus of song birds, happily twittering away without a care in the world. " _Come, come now, deary. Why won't you scream for me?_ " The voice chimed. Finally, a second figure bounced into view, bending over the woman held down to stone. Her hair fanned over the first woman's stomach, and it was clear the second woman had no intention of getting close to her captive's face.

" _Go fuck yourself!_ " Hissed the tortured victim, jerking her arms in reflex like she'd wanted to attack the woman bending over her. Blood seeped from beneath the shackles as they cut into her flesh, but it didn't appear as if she had noticed.

There was another of those bubbly laughs, the second woman's hand flitting over her mouth to muffle the sound.

The captive woman seethed, baring her teeth in a pure animalistic way while one of the most unusual sounds echoed from the speakers. Canine growling and...a rattlesnake? The sound seemed to be coming from the bloodied woman.

" _The Master isn't too happy with me, you know. Playing with you like I have been all this time. I was hoping to break your spirit down before we carried on with our plans, but you're just so stubborn!_ " The second woman spoke as she straightened herself, placing one of her hands on her hips while lifting the other level with her shoulder.

" _You'd have a better chance killing me_ _._ " The captive woman snapped, sending a withering glare towards her captive.

" _Not even a little begging?"_ The second woman pouted, poking out her lips to exaggerate the expression.

" _I_ will never _beg for mercy. Greater demon filth than you have tried."_ The first woman hissed through her teeth, even going as far to spit in her captive's face.

The standing woman laughed, lifting her hand to smear away the blood and saliva. " _That's what I like about you! I suppose we should get down to business then._ " She chirped, bringing the hand down and hovering it just above her captive's chest.

" _Would you just shut the hell up for five minutes? Your voice is dreadful._ " Hissed the captive.

The woman standing above her captive did nothing but smile in a wicked way that gave Kuwabara goosebumps. Her hand began to glow with a pale red aura that danced around her finger tips. Without so much as a warning, she drove her hand into her captive's chest.

The bloody woman sucked in a hissing breath, grinding her teeth together while she pressed her lips into a tight line. Her body jerked violently, pulling against the shackles on her wrists like she was attempting to drag herself away from the ghostly woman.

For a few moments, the standing woman didn't move at all. Seconds ticked by painfully slow, until finally she drew her hand out of her captive's chest slowly. That smile she'd worn grew darker as her's eyes narrowed. The woman below struggled fruitlessly against he bindings, the glow of her shackles growing in intensity the more she fought against them.

When the standing woman's creamy white hand was nearly fully withdrawn from her captive's chest, something... _odd_ start writhing between her fingers. Slowly and purposefully, the ghostly woman drew something dark from her captive's chest. Something black, crackling with electric blue that flashed like lightening through the darkness. It stretched thinner and thinner the more it was pulled away from it's host.

The ghostly woman hovered her hand roughly six inches above her captive's chest, pinching the dark mass between her fingers as she seemed to hesitate.

The bloody woman had started trembling. Her muscles tightly coiled and her jaw clenched tightly, her face twisted in a look of sheer agony. Yet, even still, she managed to retain a look of unfiltered loathing in her eyes while she glared at the woman above her. Not uttering so much as a peep, not even a whimper. Even though it was clear she wanted to.

The pale woman that stood above merely flicked her wrist in an upward motion, and the writhing mass popped free from it's host chest with an audible hiss. Quickly recoiling into the hand that held it.

There was something that flashed across the captive's face, but it passed far too quickly to be identified. The speakers vibrated with the sound of the bloody woman's screams. The sound causing both Kuwabara and Botan to yank their hands up to their ears. The remaining occupants visibly tensed while they watched the woman thrash.

There was the sound of cheery laughter that accompanied the screaming from the speakers, the ghost of a woman bouncing from one foot to the other. " _There it is! Finally!"_ She shrieked with a sound of absolute joy, giggling as she actually _twirled_ on her toes.

Eventually, the screams fell silent, and the captive slumped against the stone. Drawing in quick, rapid breaths that almost made it seem as if she were hyperventilating.

" _You're probably wondering what it is that I've just done to you. Well, I'm happy to inform you!"_ Chirped the standing woman, leveling her hand far above her captive's face.

She brought her empty hand up, just as it began to glow with the same dancing red aura as before. " _This,"_ the ghostly woman paused to giggle and twirl the dark mass between her fingers. " _Is a fragment of your living soul."_

The tension in the room had grown so thick, one could cut it with a knife.

The look on the captive's face was of both horror and absolute disgust. It didn't last, because the standing woman plunged her free hand back into her captive's chest.

Unlike the first time, the ghostly woman took no measure to be gentle or slow. She yanked her hand free of the bloody woman's chest without a care in the world.

The speakers immediately vibrated with the sound of screams for a second time.

They quieted much quicker than they had from the first. Seeming exhausted, the captive woman slumped against the stone. Her breathing seeming to be much more pained, and far more shallow than it had been before. Her face was twisted in a look of absolute agony. Yet, somehow she'd managed to hold onto an unfiltered rage that burned brightly in her eyes while she glared up at her bubbly company.

" _Now, isn't this absolutely peculiar."_ The standing woman said softly, twirling a marble sized fragment of the captive's soul in each of her hands.

The first remained just as dark as ever, continuing to crackle with a hiss whenever that electric blue flashed like lightening across it's surface.

The second was far different. Glowing an almost blinding white, and dancing with a radiant molten gold that writhed like a flame.

" _I've never seen something like this before. You just keep getting better and better, don't you?"_ Chirped the ghostly woman.

There was a weak, forced sound that gargled in the captive's throat. " _Piss...off."_ She hissed out, the sound of her pain slipping in with her voice. It was as if the two simple words had drained every last bit of her energy, because her head rolled to one side and her eyes fell shut. Clearly having slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

Even if her victim had fainted, the ghost of a woman continued to speak. " _I'm surprised you stayed awake that long. Anyone else would have blacked out the moment I touched their soul. No wonder Master spoke so highly of you."_

There was the sound of giggling, and the woman turned and practically pranced out of view of the camera. Leaving only the image of the unconscious victim on screen.

" _Master is going to be absolutely thrilled with this, I just know it!"_ Spoke the voice of that woman, the sound of creaking hinges hissing through the speakers before the video crackled into nothing but static. Just as it had before their impromptu movie had began.

The room was silent, as if no one knew exactly what to say.

It seemed as though Botan was the one who was capable of finding her voice first. "Koenma, sir. That girl's soul...how did she...? What's...going to happen to her? Living souls aren't meant to be torn apart!" The Grim Reaper had first started speaking in an almost timid way; however, it had quickly turned into something far more panicked. Her wide eyes turning to the Reikai Prince just as tears started to pool in her eyes.

Koenma's eyes closed tightly, his hands curled into fists upon his lap. "I didn't think anyone was capable...I'd only heard stories from Father, but I didn't think anyone could actually tear pieces of someone's soul out of their body."

"What are they even going to do with those pieces? The poor girl won't even be able to walk!" Botan's voice cracked, tears bubbling out of the corners of her eyes.

"If my assumptions are correct...They're going to attempt to use those fragments to manipulate the host like a living puppet. If they have the ability, it's much more effective than simple mind control. Not only will they be capable of controlling the body, but the host's energy and abilities as well. It's not something that can be resisted, either." Koenma spoke slowly, seeming to process each of his words carefully.

Koenma didn't seem as if he'd wanted anyone else to speak up, as he was clearing his throat while reaching back into the depths of his robes. He pulled out a small folder, tossing it onto the low table before them. The word _Classified_ stamped in bold, red letters across it's front.

Yusuke didn't hesitate to snatch the folder into his hands, yanking it open and staring down into it's contents.

Kuwabara leaned over Yusuke's shoulder to examine the information with his smaller friend. The red headed fox seated to Yusuke's opposite side taking similar actions to be able to see the contents of the folder.

It seemed to be a simple list of information on the captive they just saw upon the video.

There was a photo paper clipped to one side of the folder. Displaying the woman in a much more befitting appearance than what they had just seen upon the video. Much more easily able to make out the details in the photo then they were in the dim lighting of the video.

The woman within the photo was fit to be called an athletic dancer. With long legs and a firm muscle tone spread to every portion of her body. Her hair was a shade of dark violet, appearing to be accented with a color that seemed to take on a faint red shine. With an olive complexion, her bright blue eyes popped against the darker colors.

It was clear in both the way she stood and the expression she took that she possessed an enviable level of confidence.

"Nice tits." Yusuke muttered, only to jerk forward when a fist planted into the back of his skull.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted, his voice taking on a higher pitch than usual.

"What!?" Yusuke shouted in return, jerking his attention in the direction of the larger man.

"Be serious for once!" The carrot-topped man replied.

Yusuke rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the side of the folder that held the information.

"Hey. What gives, half the page is blacked out." Yusuke griped, turning his attention to Koenma.

The Prince cleared his throat, "My father wouldn't authorize me to give you full access to _all_ of her information, so he gave me a copy of her file with the details he wanted to exclude blacked out. You'll just have to make do."

Yusuke grumbled, once more turning his attention back to the available information.

 _ **Name: Unknown**_

 _ **Alias: Sai**_

 _ **Gender: Female**_

 _ **Age:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Date of Birth:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Species: Demon**_

 _ **Sub Species:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Place of Origin:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Power Level: S Class**_

 _ **Alignment: Reikai Operative**_

 _ **Languages: Japanese,**_ **blacked out _, various demon languages_**

 ** _Dominant Form: Human_**

 ** _Alternative Form:_ Blacked out**

 _ **Height: 152.4 cm**_

 _ **Weight: 53.5 kg**_

 _ **Mother:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Father:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Siblings:**_ **Blacked out**

 _ **Mate: Not Applicable**_

 _ **Offspring: Not Applicable**_

 _ **Personality and Mannerisms: Adaptable,**_ **blacked out, blacked out, _articulate,_ blacked out, blacked out, _capable, challenging,_ blacked out**

 _ **Likes:**_ **Entirely blacked out**

 _ **Dislikes:**_ **Entirely blacked out**

 _ **Fears:**_ **Entirely blacked out**

 _ **Notes:**_ **Entirely blacked out**

"This chick is an S Class? How the hell did she get caught?!" Yusuke's voice pierced through the room, raised far more than necessary.

"That's the thing, Yusuke. I don't know. She's never been in a situation that she couldn't get herself out of before, at least not since working for the Reikai." Koenma sounded defeated, even his shoulders slumped.

"There's no point in stumbling over those details right now. There are more pressing matters to discuss." The fox spoke, eerily calm.

"Kurama's right. Imagine the potential disaster they're already capable of with _one_ S Class demon. I'd hate to think of the devastation if they were capable of getting their hands on any more." The Prince spoke quietly, letting his head hang.


	3. Chapter 3: Beauty from Pain

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Chapter 3

 _Beauty from Pain_

* * *

Sai was no stranger to pain. She'd experienced more than her fair share over the long years of her life. It came in all shapes and sizes, in all matter of different forms. As she'd gotten older, she'd found many ways to numb herself from the sensation. In some cases, she'd even come to enjoy it.

Not this time.

She'd never experienced anything like this, and certainly not a pain that lasted for so long. She'd learned that ghostly woman that had been visiting her regularly was named Ayame. That woman was high on Sai's shit list. She'd make sure that twittering pixie died slow. She'd enjoy dragging it out, composing different methods to make her suffer. After all, Ayame was the reason _she_ was suffering so much.

That woman had reached into her and torn her soul apart, and the pain _still_ remained with her. She found she couldn't even move her body without escalating the pain. Pain that seared her every muscle, pressed down into her bones, and went even deeper. Straight down into her very spirit. She'd rather be burned alive. At least _that_ type of pain would be manageable, and eventually _stop_ all together.

Instead, she was left alone to writhe. To find even the smallest amount of peace, she'd taken to her thoughts and counting the seconds as they ticked by. At least that way she'd be able to be able to account for some passage of time.

Thankfully, she'd been left alone since those pieces of her soul had been taken from her. She would have much rather had the company. Some other type of pain would have been able to distract her, right?

* * *

She'd fallen in and out of consciousness over the span of the hours.

When she woken up this last time, there was a fierce determination in her. She _had_ to find a way out of here. It hadn't been the first time she'd attempted, but it _had_ been the first time she'd had no need to worry about her attempts of escape being discovered. She was still alone, and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity.

Sai twisted her head slowly, grinding her teeth when the pain rocketed through her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt as if she was about to suffocate for a few short moments. She gasped when she was finally able to breathe again, and she squeezed her eyes shut. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing roughly as she pried her eyes back open. Her attention settled on one of the shackles around her wrists. It fit tightly around her flesh, the only hope she had of wriggling free was to break something. If she could manage that, maybe she'd be able to pull her hand free. It wouldn't be pleasant, but she didn't see an other options. With the shackles locking away her energy, all she had to depend on was her physical strength, and even that was waning.

She bit down harder into her lip, the metallic taste that washed over her tongue told her she'd broken sink. She hardly paid it any attention. Wriggling her wrist while pulling against the shackle. She did this for some time, roughly five minutes by her count. If she could use her _other_ hand, breaking her thumb would be a simple task. That would have been just too convenient for her, wouldn't it? She took in slow, deep breaths as she forced through the searing pain in her spirit.

 _"Just a little more."_ She thought, worrying at her lip with her attention set up on the shackle. It cut into her skin, but she continued to work at it. Eventually, she was able to twist a small portion of the bottom of her hand just beneath the shackle. She let out a heavy breath, and even with the grinding pressure of bone against bone she felt relief. She closed her eyes tightly, took in a deep breath and held it. Violently twisting her wrist while jerking downward. There was the sound of a sickening crack that bounced off the walls, and Sai proceeded to grind her teeth together. Her thumb had dislocated, slipping itself into a painful position in front of her palm.

She wriggled her wrist, pulling against the cuff as she did so. There was still a notable amount of resistance, but she was making progress. Eventually, with one last tug, her hand slipped free. She huffed out her held breath, taking in another through a trembling jaw while she brought her hand closer to her. She had to drag her arm across the surface of the stone table, it felt as if someone had filled it with lead. She took in steady breaths, focusing on her breathing while she adjusted her palm against the stone. Struggling to lift her hand, she let out a slow breath just before slamming her hand back against the stone. Grunting with a short whine when her thumb popped back into place and added to the pain scorching through her body.

Sai sucked in a breath of relief, lifting her trembling hand to rest on her chest with a soft sigh. Her eyes fell closed as she continued to count the seconds by, but she didn't allow herself to simply lay there for too long. Time was far too precious, and she had no clue when someone would drop by to pay her a visit. She twisted her upper body to face the remaining shackle upon her wrist as best she could, unable to maneuver her legs to get a better position. She brought her free hand to her mouth, drawing in a quick breath before sinking her fangs down deep into her palm.

She was immediately greeted with a wash of blood upon her tongue, and she drug those fangs across her skin while pulling away from her hand. Her arm was shaking as she lifted it up to her bound wrist, working her fingers into her palm to force the blood from the wound. The fluid fell with a wet _plop_ against her wrist, and she wriggled and pulled upon it. Continuing to work the blood from her wounded hand while pulling against the metal with all the strength she had that remained.

Thanks to the bloody lubrication, Sai was able to pull her wrist free without dislocating anything from the other hand. The moment it had popped free, she flopped back against the stone and curled her arms over her chest. Clinging desperately to herself as her body trembled. She was exhausted, and she hated it. She needed appropriate sustenance. Ayame had been forcing many mundane forms of nutrition upon her, but that did little to truly offer her anything of value. She shifted slowly, groaning lowly as she forced herself up onto her elbows. She trembled as she stared down to her ankles.

This was going to be a problem. If she couldn't find some sort of solution, her only option would be to cut her own feet off. _That_ wouldn't be beneficial to her at all. It would take months to grow them back, in her weak and malnourished state. She didn't have months! A few hours, at best. She pushed herself up further, sitting upright for only a moment before slouching forward. Her palms braced between her legs as she panted heavily.

Her attention turned around the room. Even if there was barely any light at all, it was easy for her to make out every detail of the room around her. Sadly, the only thing in the room with her was a lonely sink in the corner. It didn't surprise her, considering it seemed that her captors had thought of practically everything. He was the one that put her here, and he was more than acquainted with her to know what precautions to take.

Her attention fell back down to her ankles, squinting down at the shackles. Her vision started to blur as she stared at them, and she shook her head. Wobbling where she sat, she clenched her jaw tight. Groaning softly while the pain consumed her, trying with all her might to push it to the back of her mind. She struggled to open her eyes, but it only lasted for a moment before her body simply gave out on her. She collapsed onto the stone table into a boneless heap.

* * *

Darkness was there to great her again. That same emptiness she'd experienced before.

It had been a reoccurring factor. Although, it didn't happen every time she blacked out. It had happened enough for her to become accustomed to it.

It was simply as if she were floating in an abyss. She couldn't breath, and she couldn't see. It was odd, not being able to actually _breathe_. However, whenever she attempted to speak it was like she didn't lack the oxygen at all, and the words easily spilled from her lips.

Here, she felt completely numb. No pain to speak of, and she'd grown to like this emptiness. The first time she'd experienced this emptiness after her soul had been torn, she _did_ feel the pain. However, she'd learned that all she had to do in this world was will it away. Poof! It was gone just like that. Seemed simple enough, right? Even though she had tried to imagine some sort of light, it didn't come. She'd even tried to imagine a beach, with silky white sand and crystal clear water. And the smell of coconut and papayas wafting on a breeze. Definitely a human luxury. For a time, she'd _felt_ the warmth of the sun. Heard the rolling waves of the ocean without ever seeing them.

She stretched her arms out to her sides, going through the action of sighing without ever having taken the breath to do so. She couldn't get over the strange feeling, but it was easy enough to brush aside. She took on a reclined position, crossing one leg over the other and propping her hands behind her head.

It felt good being able to move. Even if it was in a world completely uninhabited, except for her lonely population of one. There was a distinct feeling that she wasn't actually alone, though. The difference between when she was alone here, she actually enjoyed it. She imagined the warmth of the sun again, soothing her body in a way that she'd desperately needed.

 _" **I thought you would use this time more wisely.** " _Her voice rang clear as a bell in Sai's ears. Deep, dark, and ominous. It sounded old, older than she could ever hope to be. She should have been intimated by it, but this was a voice she'd known all her life.

She rolled her shoulder, as if the voice could see her.

" _ **I do not like how casual you are being.** " _The voice said to her, as if it had actually seen her.

"Well, I don't like a lot of things." She sneered in return, bouncing her ankle as she puckered her lips.

" _ **Do you not think you could be constructing some way to free yourself? I am capable of taking away your pain in the time you spend with me, however it does not come without additional pain to myself.** " _

Sai felt her body relax even further, her eyes fluttering open with a frown. She was greeted with the same emptiness, no matter where she looked. "How do you suppose I do that?" She sounded irritated.

She heard the voice laugh, a soft sound that send chills up her spine. _" **Do you suppose I should supply you with all the answers, child?** " _

Sai went through the motion of a breathless sigh, her shoulders slumping.

"It would be nice if I could see you. See _something_." She spoke quietly, barely a whisper while she wrapped her arms around herself.

Sai would love to believe she was all powerful, without a single shred of fear. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't afraid, but that was nothing new. She lied about her emotions far too often. The truth of the matter was she was _terrified._ Even if she didn't speak those words out loud.

There was that soft laugh again, and she felt as if the voice was shaking it's head at her. _" **Sweet child, you do see me. I'm all around you.** " _

"Oh." Was the only thing Sai could have thought to say in response. Her eyes turned around the emptiness, not seeing a shred of any source of light or even another shape.

It made sense. Sai knew the possessor of that voice, and _should_ have known just where she was. It was just so strange. She'd seen this voice all her life, but she'd never been enveloped in it. She'd always seen it as a physical manifestation, and more times than she could recall she'd actually taken it's form.

 _" **When you slip so deep into your subconscious, I am capable of touching you.** " _The voice told her.

Sai felt herself smile. She should have known the voice would know exactly what was going on in her head. After all, they did share the same space.

"Iza?" She said softly, reclining herself once again and crossing her arms back behind her head.

 _" **Yes, Sai?** "_ The voice returned to her with a fondness, a gentleness hidden under the normally malicious sound. It was almost as if the voice had purred her name.

She smiled, closing her eyes. She hesitated for just a few moments, her mind drawing a complete blank. "Is it weird that I'm talking to myself?"

 _" **Be serious for once in your life.** " _The voice growled a warning, and Sai laughed at the menacing sound.

"Sorry. What I really meant to ask was...Why can't I talk to you when I'm awake?"

The voice simply replied with the sound of a gentle purr, at first. Something odd, considering the circumstances. _" **The cuffs that bind you. Two more remain. So long as they imprison you, we cannot communicate in your conscious state. I am not able to supply you with the energy you would need to destroy them.** " _

Sai felt the motion of another breathless sigh, and she let her head hang. "I figured as much."

* * *

It had been nearly twenty-four hours since the band of oddly matched allies had entered the Makai. They had stomped through one useless stronghold. Surprisingly enough, it was an easy task. Something that was far too simple and convenient. The demons that inhabited the stronghold were...weak. Or was it simply just that they were far stronger?

Yusuke hadn't been satisfied until they'd beaten down every demon. Not even one of them had been able to stand up to him, let alone his three travel buddies. The only one left was the poor creature the detective held by a fist full of hair. Kurama had insisted they interrogate at least _one_ of them.

"Start talking!" Yusuke barked, slamming his fist into the side of the demon's head. It jerked, but was met with a forceful halt thanks to the hand in it's hair. Some of the strands ripped free of it's scalp and dangled between the detective's fingers.

"I-I'll tell you anything you want to know! J-just please! P-p-p-please stop hitting me!" The demon shrieked, his expression washed in terror.

 _Pathetic._

"Now that's a good little demon. Where's Sai?" Yusuke couldn't help the feel of minuscule triumph, and bitter disappointment. He'd been hoping to at least get in a few more good punches before the demon started to squeal. What kind of sissies were running this place, anyway? They shouldn't have been able to capture someone with the strength Koenma had claimed Sai possessed.

"S-s-s-s...Sssssai?" The demon stuttered, taking on an expression of complete and utter disbelief mixed into his horror. Bingo.

"Yeah, you heard me. Talk!" Yusuke brought his fist up again.

The demon shrieked, jerking his hands up to shield his face. "I can tell you anything but that! The Master will kill me!"

There was a chilling sound of humorless laughter that lasted but a moment, and it certainly hadn't come from Yusuke. The detective glanced over his shoulder, seeming just as startled by the sound as his cooperative hostage.

"You're a fool to think we wouldn't kill you ourselves if you don't give us the information we want."

It was Hiei. Having just turned the corner of the hallway followed by both the red headed fox and the larger human oaf.

The demon paled, his blue skin taking on a green appearance as if he were about to be sick. He stared at the additional faces, his jaws working like a gaping fish out of water.

"Well, you heard the man. Tell us and maybe survive, or don't tell us and die." Yusuke spoke, turning his attention back to the demon. The detective even gave he demon a shake, startling the ugly thing out of it's daze.

The demon's eyes darted between Yusuke and the others, his mouth gaping open.

"Last chance." The detective warned, raising his fist up.

The demon shrieked again, covering his face with his hands.

"Ok, ok! This place is just a decoy, the _real_ fortress is 16 kilometers North, North West. You'll find the Plateau of the Beheaded. It's _inside_ of the Plateau. Roughly 8 kilometers to the East of the Plateau, you'll find something that looks like an ordinary burrow. A hole in the ground. Yes? It'll lead you straight to the Fortress. She's in their with Master, that's all I know. Honest." The demon peeked through his fingers, up at the Detective.

"Who is this _Master_ you all speak of? What does he plan to do?" The fox spoke from behind Yusuke, and the detective glared at the demon.

"You heard the man. Talk!" He shouted, giving the demon a rough shake.

"Master's name is Raijin! I don't know what he wants with the girl! Only Mistress knows of what Master wants with the prisoner."

"There's a Mistress now?" Yusuke found himself grumbling, using his free hand to rub across his face.

"Yes, yes. Mistress. She is Master's favorite, his right hand. She does anything Master asks. Will you please let me go now? I don't know anything else." The demon sputtered, looking with a desperation up at Yusuke.

Yusuke turned his attention over to his comrades with a quirked brow. There was an uneasy tension in Kurama's expression. As if something the demon had said didn't settle right with him. Although, Yusuke wouldn't have been able to determinate what it was.

Of course the fox would step forward. "What do we need to expect at this fortress?"

The demon looked at him, trembling under the cold expression he was greeted with. "M-most of the demons remain here. The Fortress is for the higher command, stronger than us. Much stronger than us. We're only allowed to the fortress when summoned, and we're never allowed to explore. I don't know how many are there."

Yusuke turned his attention back to the red head, who contemplated this information. After some time, the fox gave a dismissive wave of his hand. The detective's grip slacked on it's hold, and the demon fell with a thud to the ground.

Immediately, the demon crab walked backward. Stumbling to his feet and scampering down the hallway.

"We can't allow him to inform any of his allies about the information he just gave us." Yusuke heard Kurama speak.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He replied, lifting a single finger to point in the direction the demon ran. Gathering up an all too familiar blue glow of energy in the tip of his index finger.

* * *

Sai awoke to the sound of rattling chains and a particularly odd smell. Something that made her nose turn up in disgust with the gurgling sound of a groan that got caught within her throat. Was there someone talking? She couldn't tell, her mind hadn't caught up with her sensory functions.

How long had she been unconscious for?

She felt a crushing sense of loss at her conscious state, unable to reach out to voice that had been comforting her. She'd been so accustomed to being able to speak with the entity whenever she pleased. This was maddening. Not to mention the pain.

She felt something touch her shoulder, rolling her to lay back flat again.

Wait...Wait, no! Someone was moving her. No, no, no! She would not let herself be bound again! Red completely overtook her vision and her body reacted of it's own accord, fingers quickly curling into a tight fist as she lurched upward. Her fist connected with _something._ The results yielding a rather hallow sound, accompanied with the sound of pain and the shuffling of feet.

 _Good._ Whoever it was deserved to be in pain! Especially after the suffering she'd been forced through.

Before the red faded, there was a hand that wrapped tightly around her neck. Her assailant slamming her down into the table without a fraction of pity. Her head cracked against stone, and her hands flew up to sink her claws into the arm that held her. When the red blocking her vision subsided, she was left staring up at a face she wasn't familiar with. His expression was just as hostile as her own, glaring down at her with an intense furiosity.

She wasn't afraid of him. Not in the slightest, even if reason said she _should_ have been afraid. So what if he might kill her? It'd certainly be preferable to the intolerable pain crippling even the basic of her senses. Even _now_ she could barely register his touch as the small burst of adrenalin faded away. She hated him, just as much as she hated the others in this prison. Not that she had seen but only two other faces.

"Let her go. We couldn't have expected her to react any differently to the situation." Said a voice that sounded pained, and even as if it were attempting to mask it's irritation. It hadn't come from the man standing over her, and his grip around her throat only proved to tighten at the request of what Sai could only assume was from his ally.

She bared her teeth in a silent snarl towards the man, tightening her own grip to match his own. At least, she _thought_ she matched his grip. In truth, her body still hadn't regained it's strength. Her wounds hadn't healed, and her energy was still out of reach. Her pain hadn't ebbed at all, and it was increasingly difficult to focus her mind when combined with the denial of oxygen. She would be back to her blissful unconsciousness, if he didn't let her go soon.

There was a hand that clapped down onto the shoulder of the man, twisting his attention to someone behind him. From her poor perspective, she couldn't make out just who it was, however she did recognize the voice that spoke. The same one that had spoken before, and this time it spoke without the pain. One simple word that was laced with an eerie calm, and an underlying warning in addition. "Hiei."

The man that stood over her turned his attention back down to her from the corner of his eye. Slowly, his fingers uncurled from around her throat. They hovered there, with her claws still embedded into his arm. "Let go." He said to her, his voice was low and dark. Something that promised misery if she didn't comply with his demand.

Her expression twisted, sucking in a wonderfully painful breath of air. When did she ever comply with her enemies? She was already miserable, nothing he did would make it any worse! Even still, she refused to let him go. She _should_ remove his arm. It would have been easy, wouldn't it? It should have been easy, if she had her usual strength.

"Lighten up, girlie. We're here to help, if you let go of our friend there." Another voice assaulted her ears, causing her attention to jerk to her opposite side.

She was greeted with an uncharacteristic grin. Not sadistic or menacing at all. In fact, it looked...friendly. It shocked her, and the reaction had caused her to loosen her grip around her assailant's arm.

He had taken the opportunity to jerk out of her grasp completely, and she sent him a withering glare. One which he returned without hesitation.

"That's the spirit!" Spoke the grinning man.

She jerked forward with a pained gasp, clutching at her chest when a hand firmly smacked right in between her shoulder blades. The motion had caused that pain to resurface in full, and she completely lost her breath. Blood sputtered from between her lips as she choked, claws carelessly tearing into the fabric she'd been covered with. She even tore into her own flesh, hoping that a physical pain might drown out the spiritual one.

That idiot had hit her right behind the epicenter of her pain, where that ghostly woman had ripped out the fragments of her soul.

"Hey, I didn't mean to-"

"Shut up!" She hissed, grinding her teeth together as she glared at him. Finally, she could breathe! He immediately jerked his hands up to either side of his head, palms facing in her direction in a typical fashion of _I surrender._ He even offered her a sympathetic grin.

It was odd for her to see such an action in this pace. Something of pure innocence, something without malicious intent. That was the second time that he had caught her of guard. She stared at him, struggling to even out her panted breaths. She'd noted the odd combination of his almost care free attitude next to his appearance. He looked young, if not a bit worse for wear. Greased back hair, and milk chocolate eyes.

"Don't mean to rush the welcome party, guys, but you better hurry it up! I can feel something coming, and it gives me the heebie-geebies!" _Another_ voice?

Sai's attention jerked in it's direction, and she had to squint through the darkness to see him. Much taller than the others she'd seen, and he was standing at the door. Peeking out through a tiny crack he'd made in it.

"Relax, Kuwabara. This place is empty." The man prone to grinning spoke with his attention directed at the man standing at the door.

"There's...two others here." She managed to wheeze out, pain laced in each carefully pronounced word. If they were here to help, she could at least be cooperative. Even if they tried to take her hostage after getting her out of this place, she'd at least have access to her energy again. They'd regret it, if they decided to turn against her. At this point, she'd welcome any potential allies.

The rustling of chains brought her attention down to her ankles. It was then that she noticed that one of her ankles had already been freed. When had that happened? And why was she now hyperly aware of the unnaturally smoldering temperature surrounding where the shackle had once been? She studied her ankle, noticing the way skin peeled away from the muscle in more than a few choice places. It was dotted with tiny wounds, speckled like a pretty Dalmatian.

That _smell_ hit her nose again, and she couldn't help but cover it up with a hand and a grunted sound to vocalize her disgust. Her attention jerked to her other ankle. It was that man with the red eyes, the one that had grabbed her throat. He was positioned at the far end of the table, his hands working deftly at the heavy weight of the shackle. She noted with a morbid curiosity how the metal sagged and curled away from his fingers. Tidbits of red hot steel popped and fizzled, landing painfully on her skin. Thanks to their heat, the little bubbles cauterized the small wounds before they'd ever had a chance to start bleeding.

So that was why her other ankle looked the way it did, not to mention the way that it felt. Oh fuck, and that _smell_. It was her damn burning flesh, no wonder she wanted to choke.

It didn't stop her from watching the man like a tiger. Ready to pounce at the first sign of anything she might have seen as treacherous. It certainly didn't help his case with the given fact she already wanted to strangle him. An eye for an eye.

 _" **Leaves the whole world blind.** " _Sai heard the voice purr in the back of her mind when the shackle fell away with a clatter. Deep, dark, ominous and familiar.

She sighed pleasantly, despite the throbbing pain left behind by molten metal. She yanked her ankles up towards her hands, plucking away the tiny beads of metal with claws she used a lot like tweezers.

Along with the familiar caress of Iza's thoughts in the darkest shadows of her mind, she felt the refreshing waves of her energy crash back into her. She flexed her fingers in front of her, noting how the spiritual pain seemed to have disappeared all together. She couldn't help but wonder how.

 _" **I can take away your pain here, now.** " _Her mental companion spoke to her with a purr. Keeping her voice soft and low, and Sai wrapped her arms around her chest.

" _Why would you do that?"_ She found herself thinking in response. Her lips twisted into a deep scowl, brows furrowing. She recalled how the entity had informed her it resulted in additional pain to itself.

" _ **You will need to focus your strength on escape. We cannot simply offer trust to these men so easily.**_ " The voice returned in a low hum, and Sai's eyes fluttered closed. It wasn't as if she'd forgotten about her company, she'd simply...gotten lost for a few short moments in her small reunion with her darker half.

That didn't stop the man with greased up hair from roughly shaking her shoulder.

Mentally, she heard Iza growl maliciously at the touch. Sai couldn't help but follow suit, the sound of a rattlesnake growl leaping on instinct from her throat. She shot a vicious glare towards the man. "Don't. Do that." She strained out between her teeth.

Unlike the first time, the man didn't immediately recoil. He kept his hand clamped firmly on her shoulder. Sai found herself looking at that hand with ample venom, as if it contained the plague.

"Sorry to burst whatever little bubble you're in, but we can't just sit around here." He said to her.

Sai hissed lowly, yanking her shoulder away from him with a furiousness. She turned to throw her legs over the opposite side of the table. Coming face to chest with yet another obstacle in her path. She bristled, slowly turning her attention upward. Four. In total, she was granted with the unwanted company of four different faces. The one she looked up to now was far more effeminate than any of the others. With long, red head and startlingly green eyes. Eyes that were guarded, cautious and calculating.

"Are you capable of standing?" He's said to her, the calm that lingered in his voice seemed far too strained.

Her anger flared. He hadn't asked her about walking, he'd asked her about standing. As if she couldn't! How _dare_ he, clearly he didn't know who he was talking to.

Certainly, one day her pride would be the end of her. She pushed off on trembling hands without so much as a sound. The red head in front of her talking a step backward to allow some illusion of space between them. In actuality, she felt as if he was suffocating her with his mere presence.

Her knees buckled under her own weight as soon as her feet hit the ground, but thankfully she'd had enough rationality to have kept a grasp on the table. Her forearm hit the hard surface, just at the green eyed man's arm shot out to grab her bicep.

She sucked in a breath, she didn't need his help! Not in something as insignificant as fucking _standing on her own two feet._ She wasn't some weakling to be coddled. She jerked away from him, and she saw the flash of irritation dance across his eyes.

"Uh, guys? We got company." She heard the voice come from the direction of the door, and her attention followed the sound.

Of course. She was never so fortunate, after all. Bad luck followed her like a lost puppy.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I can't help but feel like there's something missing out of this chapter. I've rewritten the scene following where Sai and Iza are talking to one another into at least a dozen different scenarios. The one that resulted in this chapter occurred the last few times, and I spent hours staring at it and tweaking it into what it is now. Still, I can't help but feel that there's something missing. It's driving me absolutely bonkers.**_

 _ **If any of you guess and put your finger one what you think would make this chapter better, please don't hesitate to let me know!**_

 _ **I've also added a pole to my profile inquiring about preferred perspective when reading the story. I've noticed it's a little difficult in some situations to determine Sai's perspective from other female characters. Even though it's written in third person, it is still from Sai's point of view. I'm debating on whether or not I should change this story to a first person POV. Every vote will count towards helping me decide which I end up choosing.**_

 _ **I'd like to give a shout out to pourquoibella and SpartanFred! Thank you guys for your wonderful and friendly comments.**_


	4. Chapter 4: This Means War

.

Chapter 4

 _This Means War_

* * *

Sai didn't know what had possessed her to believe escape would be so simple. She was never so lucky. Hell would freeze over before she could say, in all honesty, that anything in her life had been simple. She should come to expect this sort of thing.

"It looks like a little girl." The man at the door said, still peaking through the tiny sliver he'd cracked open in the door.

Red winked into her vision, and adrenalin surged through her veins as her blood ran hot. She lurched forward without a second thought, stumbling straight into the arms of the red head before her. "I'll _kill her_!" She hissed through her teeth. There was a malicious sound that hissed in the back of her mind, tangling it's own loathing into the fire of her anger.

"You are in no condition to fight." The man before her said, keeping a firm grasp on her upper arms as her pushed her back onto her own trembling legs.

She didn't want to admit he was right. She didn't want to acknowledge that she barely had the strength to straight up properly. She didn't _want_ anyone to see this sort of weakness. She growled lowly, the sound of the rattlesnake chattering in her throat as her head sagged forward. Suddenly, she felt like a dead weight. She felt the hands around her arms tighten with the additional weight she'd provided her unwilling support. She felt as helpful as a rag doll.

"Did she just pass out?" Came the voice of that grinning idiot.

"I'm not sure." Spoke that eerily calm voice in front of her. She felt the hands shift her, as if attempting to inspect her closer.

"No." She managed to croak out, her hands shaking as she lifted them to grasp onto the arms that held her. She wasn't unconscious, not yet. She was far too angry to succumb to fatigue so quickly. Not when she was finally able to grasp her energy again! Energy that, surprisingly, seemed in a desperately small amount.

Suddenly, the sound of a very unflattering shriek pierced the air. Sai flinched, the sound bouncing around in her ears like some sort of hyperactive bouncing ball. She struggled to look towards the source of the sound, eyeballing the door.

The towering man that had been standing there was flat on his ass, back pressed up against the wall. He had an accusing finger pointed off in front of him, his gaping jaw adding a sense of dramatic humor to the appearance.

"She just walked straight _through me!_ " The man shouted, his voice raised an entire octave.

The woman in question was none other than Ayame. Sai immediately began that rattlesnake growl, but the ghostly woman didn't seem to be phased in the slightest.

Ayame stood with her hands on her hips, leaning forward and peering straight at her. "My, my, my! What a naughty girl you are." She had taken on the tone of a mother scolding her child. It caused Sai's face to twist into a snarl, baring her teeth while her growl echoed off the walls. "Master is not going to be happy with you."

Sai lurched forward, or at least she _tried_ to. The hands banded around her arms held tight, and she hadn't the strength to compete with the red head. When had she gotten so weak? She couldn't have possibly used that much energy while trapped in this place. She shifted, tugging against the hands that kept her from falling flat on her face. The red head gave her an irritated look, but she hardly cared. She could stand up on her own, damn it!

The man with the greased up hair stepped in front of her, severing the line of visual contact she'd had with the woman. She _hated_ him for that.

"Oh, don't go and play the hero, now." She heard Ayame's voice, and it sounded as if she were pouting.

"Don't you know it's not nice to bully others?" Sai knew it was the man standing in front of her that spoke, even though she couldn't see his mouth moving. That voice was pretty obvious.

Ayame laughed, and Sai hissed. "I don't need your help!"

"You see, she doesn't even want you here! Why don't you run back home to Mommy." Ayame said, followed by another laugh.

The man before her tensed, throwing a glare at her over her shoulder. "Yeah? Well you're getting our help whether you like it or not, doll face."

Sai growled at the response, shifting her legs so that she'd be able to lunge straight for his god damn throat. It didn't happen, however. Because when she went to bare her weight on her own legs, the red head decided to let her go. She immediately toppled to her knees, arms jutting out to catch herself before her face met stone.

"I don't believe you're in any situation to be complaining about the aid you receive." The voice was soft. As if attempting to hide the condescending tone that lingered in it, and it made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end. He was patronizing her, and she turned her head to glare up at the red head.

"You should consider putting your pride aside." He spoke to her simply, offering her a soft smile that didn't reach the cold depths of his green eyes.

Who the hell did he think he was? Obviously he didn't realize who _she_ was. There was a twisting pain in her chest, and her hand flitted up to rub at her breast bone. Her expression betrayed her, her eyes squeezed shut and her lips pressed into a fine line.

"What is it about boys and not wanting to listen?" She heard Ayame's voice twitter as if she were talking to someone who actually cared. "Have it yourself, we'll just have to kill you. So which one of you wants to volunteer first?"

Sai's attention turned up to Ayame. Or at least it tried, she couldn't see much passed the man before her. Only about up to the woman's thighs, and that wasn't particularly helpful.

"Well come on, we haven't got all day." She heard the grinning idiot say, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Urameshi! You can't hit girls!" She'd forgotten about the human, until his obnoxious voice bounced off the walls. The carrot top had given a wide birth to Ayame, pounding up to the dark haired man with his fists balled up at his side.

"Well it's either us or her, and I pick her!" The man dubbed _Urameshi_ shouted back.

There was another pair of legs that caught her attention, having walked up to stand beside red-head. Sai turned her attention up, noticing it was red eyes. He looked bored, but the tension in his body spoke of other things.

"Hurry up and get her out of the way, Detective." His tone was far from pleased, as if someone had shoved a hot rod straight up his ass. Sai snorted, glaring up at the man.

The action caught his attention, and those red eyes turned down on her. The look he gave her was that of someone who believed they were superior, better than she was. She bared her teeth at him. Even if she was just a useless puddle of mush on the floor, she _dared_ him to challenge her. His gaze narrowed on her, his lips pressing into a thin line, neither one of them willing to break eye contact.

"I'm afraid it's not _me_ you'll be fighting, boys. See, I have a new toy I've been dying to try out. I hope you don't mind." Not even Ayame's voice was enough to pull her heated glare off the demon.

"New toy?" It was that obnoxious voice from carrot top. She couldn't recall what the Urameshi boy had called him, not as if it mattered.

"Oh course, let me show you!" Ayame laughed, and she had to resist every urge to turn her head to look towards the woman. There wasn't a point, she couldn't see the woman. So it didn't matter. This demon she could see, and she was pouring every smidgen of hate and anger into her eyes. He didn't hesitate to return the look, either. If looks could kill, which one of them would have dropped dead first?

Ayame stood in the same spot she had been upon entering the room. She fiddled with a small pouch at the side of her hip, letting her hand dive into it the moment it was open. Not but a moment later she was tugging the writhing white and gold fragment of Sai's soul from the pouch. "You're going to absolutely love this!" The woman giggled, her free hand shimmering with red aura. She brushed her fingers against the fragment, still holding it with her other hand. Her fingers brushed down the length of her hand, before making a trio of circles around her wrist.

The fragment sounded as if it were screaming, tiny little helpless screams that barely registered in Sai's ears. The fragment writhed all the more before looking as if it were melting over Ayame's fingers, coating her hand down to her wrist. There was an audible pop, Sai jerked her hands to her chest with a hiss and her eyes squeezed shut tightly.

"Yusuke, stop her. _Now!_ " Said red head.

Sai collapsed on her side, curling into a fetal position. Her forehead pressing into her knees while her hands desperately clung to her chest. That pain was back in full force, scorching through her body and straight down to her soul. She didn't even register the hands that were attempting to uncurl her body.

Yusuke turned to look at the man over her shoulder, confusion clear as day written on his face.

Ayame fiddled with another pouch on her hip, diving her hand into it the moment it was opened. That black, electric blue crackling fragment was withdrawn.

Without a moment's notice, red eyes was across the room. Sword drawn, and he didn't hesitate to cleave her hand from her arm.

The woman shrieked, stumbling back against the door. Her hand fell to the floor with a plop and thud, the tip of his blade was poised at her throat not but a moment later.

"Hiei!" Carrot top shouted at the top of his lungs.

That's right, they'd said that name earlier when referring to red eyes. Not that Sai particularly cared at the moment.

That fragment of black, blue crackling soul practically sang upon it's freedom. Zipping up into the air, around Yusuke and carrot top, and straight to Sai. It rocketed into her chest, and the force of it knocked the wind straight from her lungs.

Pain subsided immediately, and she was reunited with a familiar surge of energy. Her eyes popped open, and she lurched into a sitting position. Nearly knocking heads with red-head. Her hands still clutched at her chest, and she started panting heavily.

With the reunion of one of the two fragments, it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her body. Although she didn't feel as though she were made entirely of lead, anymore, she still couldn't say it was as easy to move as it should have been.

"You little heathen!" The woman screamed at him, coddling her arm to her chest.

"The other piece, let it go." Said red eyes, pressing the sword firmly into Ayame's throat. Blood bubbled at the tip of the metal, and the ghostly woman didn't hesitate to send him a withering glare.

Realization dawned on Yusuke's face, and he pounded up to Hiei's side. "Yeah, just cough it up, missy! And we'll go easy on you."

"You want me to let it go?" Ayame spoke, a sinister edge layering her voice. There was a wicked smile that crossed her lips.

"Well, duh." Yusuke rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"Very well, then. Here." She lifted her remaining hand, the net of brilliant white and radiant gold gathering in the palm of her hand. Surrounded by that red aura, she tipped her palm to face the ceiling, eyes narrowed on the two men before her.

Without warning, the aura leapt into the fragment, and the woman's fist closed tight around it. The soul shrieked as it shattered, dusting out from between Ayame's fingers and glittering to the ground like pixie dust. Fading out of view before ever touching the ground.

The soul hadn't been the only one to shriek. Sai screamed bloody murder, her claws tearing into her chest as she collapsed onto her side. As much as red-head wanted to simply shield his ears, he couldn't let the woman tear herself apart. His hands grabbed at her wrists, pressing his knee into her stomach to allow himself a bit of leverage while he pried her arms away.

"What did you do?!" Yusuke shouted, grabbing to woman in front of him by the collar of her shirt.

Ayame grinned at him, narrowing her eyes on the taller man. "You never told me I had to give it back. It's gone, now."

"Gone?!" Kuwabara and Yusuke shrieked in unison over the screaming provided by Sai.

"Gone. Shattered, she'll never get it back." Ayame laughed, and in a surge of apple green energy, she fell right out of Yusuke's grasp. The man gaped, stumbling back a step. He shook his head before lurching forward to reclaim his grasp, only for his hands to phase straight through her shoulders. His mouth gaped open once more.

"Keep her, if you really want. She's useless, now." The woman laughed, stepping backwards and through the door. Only her torso leaned in through the wood. "She'll make a great house pet, and nothing more. Maybe she'd even make a good bed partner. Hah!" With that, the woman practically pranced out of the door.

In a fit of unkempt anger, Yusuke yanked the door open and burst into the hallway. "Where the hell did she go?!" His voice shouted as he pounded down one side of the hall. Only to turn around, stomp straight passed the door and down the other.

"What the hell?!" His shouted, appearing in the door not but a few moments later.

Carrot top's hands were pinned over his ears, and he looked particularly frantic as he eyed the shrieking woman. "Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!" He chanted, seeming unable to think of anything else to say.

Red head struggled to keep from hurting her, fighting to prevent her from further harming herself in the process. He grunted when her knee came into forceful contact with the side of his ribs. "Kuwabara, hold her legs." He hissed above her shouting, fighting to keep his expression within his neutral mask.

Kuwabara jumped, falling down to his knees and grabbing ahold of the woman's ankles. His face turned as red as a tomato, turning his attention straight up to the ceiling as he jerked her legs down. "Can't we get her some clothes, or somethin?!" Of course, that was the thing he chose to comment on.

"I'm fairly certain she doesn't particularly care about clothing right now." Red hair said, digging his knee into her stomach as he pinning her arms down to the concrete floor.

"B-b-but...she's a lady! And all she's got is this shirt, and it's not covering everything with her thrashing around!" Kuwabara seemed adamant, turning a flustered glare to the fox.

"Demons hardly have a concept of modesty, Kuwabara." The fox said, unwavering. He was far more concerned about keeping the woman's claws from her own flesh.

"B..but." Kuwabara was at a loss.

"If you're so concerned about it, give her your jacket." The fox responded.

"You think it'll cover everything?" The human mutter in response, loosening his grip on the woman's ankles.

No sooner than he did, her legs ripped free of his grasp entirely. Flying up and knocking him square in the nose.

Kuwabara couldn't stop the yelp that slipped out of his throat, his hands immediately reclaiming their firm grasp on her feet and yanking them back down.

"Calm down, lady!" The human shrieked at her.

It did little to stop Sai's thrashing and her attempts to struggle free. She felt as though she were suffocating. Even in a weakened state, with the return of another portion of her energy, she was able to give the duo of men a rough time. Of course, had either chosen to use their own reservoirs they could have easily overpowered her. That thought hadn't crossed her mind, the only thing she wanted to do was tear this pain out of her chest.

Eventually, her body sagged into a boneless puddle on the ground. She stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes burned from the tears she'd yet to realize were cascading down the sides of her face like tiny rivers. Her chest rose and fell with each of her heavy breaths, and it was incredibly difficult to keep her eyes open.

Red head slowly slackened his grasp upon her arms, and she made no attempt to further harm herself.

Kuwabara, upon realizing he wouldn't be getting a black eye in addition to his bloody nose, quickly released her ankles and lunged to grab the hem of the shirt. He yanked it down over her body from where it laid bunched at her stomach, stretching it nearly down to her knees.

The human was then stripping off his coat, scooting over to sit by her shoulder. The movement caught her attention, and she followed him with her eyes.

He reached for her arm, and she cringed when he pulled her up. Her expression twisted into a deep grimace, and she tried to jerk away from him. She hadn't expected to succeed, his grasp had been particularly delicate.

She would have fallen right back into a boneless puddle, had he quickly not reclaimed his grasp. For a human, he was much faster than she expected him to be.

She groaned at him, the best attempt at a growl she could manage at the moment. "You're gonna be ok, Miss Lady. We'll get ya outta here." He spoke in a way one might talk to a timid animal.

She sneered at him, struggling to roll her eyes. "Aren't I just the luckiest girl in the world." There was sarcasm laced in every word, so thick it was nearly tangible. Her voice was hoarse, and pained, cracking on various syllables in the words.

There was a soft chuckle beside her, and her eyes rolled over to red head. He was crouched beside her, and it was only then that she noticed the man was helping support her with an arm around her back. Upon closer inspection, he was holding up her shoulders.

Kuwabara grasped one of her wrists with a gentleness she wasn't familiar with, bringing her attention back to the human as he slid her arm into one of the sleeves of his coat. She did nothing to aid him, and nothing to hinder him either. She was tired, incredibly tired. Drained, and in so much pain. She was, in a sense, just as helpful as a ragdoll.

The human slid the garment around her back, and red-head proceeded to pull her arm through the opposite sleeve.

It sounded like they were trying to talk to her, but all she could hear was gargles and mumbled noises. The equivalent of white noise as she stared absentmindedly at her bloody feet.

 _ **"Focus, child.**_ " That old, dark voice chimed in the back of her mind, forcing a surge of it's own energy upon her.

She sucked in a sharp, gasping breath. Her head jerked up, wide eyed and she immediately looked around. Red head and carrot top were still crouched next to her.

Red head looked far more tense and apprehensive than carrot top. The human taking on a much more sympathetic and pitying look. The look made her hatred rekindle, and she twisted her expression to glare at him. She didn't _want_ pity, and she sure as hell didn't need it. Not from the likes of him. Or anyone else, for that matter!

"Here." The red head spoke, bringing her attention back upon him. He held something tiny between his index and forefinger. Something dark, no larger than the size of a pebble.

"What do you," she paused to suck in a wheezed breath, "expect me to do with that?" There was accusation in her voice. If he expected her to eat it, he had another thing coming.

"It will act as a pain reliever." He said.

She sneered at him, even managed to turn her nose up at the offer. "No th-"

He didn't give her the opportunity to even finish speaking. He moved with a swiftness she couldn't have hoped to follow, cramming his fingers into her mouth and forcing the small thing to the back of her throat. His hand was out of her mouth before she'd even had a chance to bite it, and he was immediately forcing her jaw to closed. Jerking her head back with the hand that held her mouth closed, and rubbing her throat with the other.

Unwillingly, she swallowed the small object, glaring at the red head when he released her. "You asshole." She hissed through her teeth at him.

He offered her a smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. "You'll thank me later."

She doubted that, and she snorted as her response. She felt a small flare in red head's energy, a miniscule amount that was barely noticeable.

Within moments, her head was swimming. She thought she heard that dark voice calling in the back of her mind, but she couldn't focus on it. She shook her head, and it didn't help her cause. She felt dizzy and nauseous from the sudden action. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep her eyes open. Pain reliever? It was a sedative, and a quick one.

She sagged in the fox's grasp, completely unconscious.

"Wh-what did you do that for, Kurama?!" Kuwabara seemed shocked, gapping at the fox.

"It will be easier to transport her this way." Responded the fox, turning his eyes to the man.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Phew. This chapter gave me a really hard time. I knew how I wanted the center point of this chapter to be, but the events leading up to it all really gave me a hard time. Ayame is really the one to blame. She's a difficult character for me to portray without going into detail about her. There's a lot more to her than meets the eye. You got to see a little bit of that in this chapter!**_

 _ **As a side note, I also have eight additional scenes (not full chapters) typed up that will appear in future chapters. They provide more to the plot, and I worked briefly on them while struggling to finish this chapter. But now that this is out of the way, things should flow a lot more smoothly! There will be a bit of filler in the next few chapters, and it will move a little slow. Rest assured, though, it's all necessary. There will be bits of important information that you'll find scattered through-out. Some of it will be very obvious, while other bits will be sneakily hidden! So keep your eyes peeled.**_

 _ **I had originally planned to give credits for the Chapter titles at the end of the final chapter; however, it occurred to me that some people may enjoy listening to the songs. So, here they are, all up until now!**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Alone in the Dark, by Testament**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Lose Yourself, by Eminem**_

 _ **Chapter 3: Beauty From Pain, by Superchick**_

 _ **Chapter 4: This Means War, by Avenged Sevenfold**_

 _ **I'd also like to thank As Darkness Takes Over for pointing out some grammatical errors in the previous chapter!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Meditate

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Chapter 5

 _Meditate_

* * *

The moment Sai fell into her induced unconsciousness, she was greeted with that familiar emptiness. Total darkness surrounded her, and she was thrilled to find herself without pain. Even though she knew she was _already_ out cold, she still felt exhausted.

She had expected to be greeted by that dark voice.

The voice, however, didn't immediately rise to speak with her. She was left alone. There was no point in attempting to walk, there wasn't anywhere to go. It was almost like experiencing zero gravity. She went through the motion of a breathless sigh, stretching out her arms and legs. Her eyes fell closed, wishing she could experienced any sort of relaxation.

What she wouldn't give for a good smoothie right about now. With oranges and mangoes, banana and goji with some carrots! It sounded like a tropical paradise, and her mouth watered at the thought. She definitely needed to spend more time in the human world. A vacation would be nice, surrounded by people that couldn't kill her. People that didn't even want to kill her, for a change.

When was the last time she'd spent an extended period in Ningenkai, anyway? It had to have been at least a few months. She should pay Megumi a visit. That sounded like a nice idea.

Sai groaned, rubbing her palms into her eyes. Why did she feel so _hot_? It was like someone stuffed her into an oven! That smoothie was sounding better and better, and she would have loved to take it lounging by pool side.

Her eyes fluttered open while she sprawled her arms out to her sides. "When did I start sounding so human?" She mumbled to herself with a sigh.

She'd expected to entice that dark entity into speaking with her, but she never did get her reply.

Honestly, she couldn't have expected much else. With as much as she loved the thrill danger provided, near death experiences always left her longing for a simpler life. She couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to be born to a mundane family in Ningenkai, rather than in the company of Iza. In fact, she wondered what it would have been like to have any sort of parents at all. It wasn't as though she could ever remember _hers_.

"Shouldn't cry over split milk." She mumbled to herself, letting her eyes lazily drift open. She didn't even know why she bothered. It didn't matter if her eyes were opened of closed, the world around her was completely devoid of any form of light or life.

She hummed softly to herself, imagining she were floating on the sea. It would have been nice to just let the waves take her on their own little adventure. Sure enough, she could practically feel the cool caress of the waves on her body. Tickling her neck and lapping over her skin. She sighed pleasantly. It would have been wonderful.

* * *

The first time she returned to the conscious world around her, she didn't have any control over her sensory functions. She could hear the mumbled and gargled words of unfamiliar voices, and there was an incredibly intolerable heat enveloping her. She didn't know where in the hell she could have been where the weather could have been so annoying, and she couldn't open her eyes to find out. It was like being stuck in that state between fast asleep and barely awake. She was aware, without being able to control her body.

She was...being carried? She couldn't recall who in the hell could have been carrying her. She was sagged over someone's back, with their arms hooked underneath her derrière. Her arms uselessly slung over a pair of shoulders, and her head pillowed between their shoulder blades. With as much blood that was caked inside of her nose, clogging it up in such an effective way, it's not like she could have identified her living make-shift stretcher by their scent.

It was barely a few minutes of barely there consciousness, listening to gargled sounds and muttered words that didn't fully reach her ears. Even if one of the voices was practically speaking into one of them, she still couldn't make out what was being said.

She mumbled something, _trying_ to tell whoever it was holding her to put her the fuck down. However, she couldn't even understand the words that came out of her own mouth. She felt muscle roll, and what felt like someone's jaw press into one of her arms. No doubt, looking back over heir shoulder at her. Followed by more gargled words.

This was great, absolutely wonderful! It sounded like everything was being spoken while underwater. Completely and utterly incomprehensible, at least to her ears.

Before long, she'd slipped back under.

* * *

What she experienced after slipping into a peaceful sleep was more like a memory. Something akin to an out of body experience, watching herself from a distance while simultaneously experiencing the dream induced memory. Of course, the vision of herself that she was watching was utterly unaware of being watched.

 _She was laid out upon a marble floor. Large, dark, powerful, and completely at ease. Towering dozens of feet above the demon standing beside her, and he was rather large by his own standards._

 _"I don't understand why you watch them so much."_ _The smaller demon said, stroking his hand through the thick fur of one of her shoulders. He'd only been able to reach it because she was laying down. He was handsome, in a demonic type of way. Roped head to toe in hard earned muscle, with skin the color of red clay. With a mop of darker than night hair, and a pair of eyes to match. Accented with horns that appeared as if they were made of garnets sprouting up over his head. Nothing that a human would think to categorize in the sense of the word._

 _Her attention didn't stray away from the image before her. Bright red eyes seemingly fixed on the scene playing out before her. She had the capability of peering into the other worlds, and even the Makai she called home at this very moment. The events playing out in real time, as she sadly lacked the capability to view into the past or future._

 _"They fascinate me." She responded after some time._

 _"But they're just humans." He said back._

 _The massive beast laying beside him made a sound, one that mixed a feline's purr with the rumbling growl of a canine. The demon next to her quickly withdrew his hand from her fur, as if she were about to lash out at him. "They are different." She told him, finally taking her gaze away from the display of human activities._

 _"I still don't understand why they...fascinate you. You can accomplish things they could only dream of." His attention had turned to the display floating above the marble floors, hyperly aware of her attention on him. His body was tense, even if he attempted to look at ease._

 _She snorted at him, a veil of darkness misting from between the slits of her nostrils. Her ears twisted, standing alert at the top of her head. "Perhaps that is because you possess a pathetically shallow mind."_

 _The demon standing next to her didn't speak another word, nor did he make any move to leave her alone. Her attention lingered upon him for some time before she became unconcerned with his actions all together._

 _Her ears fell, relaxed in their position, and brushed against the scaled surface of her own horns. Her eyes turned back to her display, just as the joyful sound of laughter sprung from it. Tiny, little humans chased one another. Covered in dirt and grime from playing in the fields while their parents tended the farm land. She tilted her head as she watched them, a wave of jealousy washing over her. Her nose scrunched, the tips of her canines peeking out from beneath her lips. Jealousy was an emotion she didn't handle well, and it was often accompanied with anger._

 _Why didn't_ she _ever experience things like that? They seemed so care free, never worrying about the potential dangers in their lives. They smiled, and they laughed, and she didn't know what to call the emotion because she'd never_ felt _it. She wanted to. Why should they get to experience something that she couldn't?_

 _She was a glorious creature, one to be both feared and respected. She was capable of many things, just as the demon next to her had pointed out. However, with as powerful as she was she still felt as though she were lacking_ something. _As far as her emotions went, she held an enviable level of_ _disdain towards most other creatures. She was quick to anger, and often found herself chasing after things which she didn't have._

 _In recent decades, she'd taken to watching these humans with a critical eye. They weren't powerful, but they were creative. The mundane beasts of their world were far more inferior to even the lowest level of demons, however their strength could best a human. Yet, somehow those humans had managed to climb to the top of the food chain with their tricks and little gadgets._

 _Not only that, but they expressed things she wasn't familiar with at all. She found herself watching pairs of humans together. Their interactions were particularly intriguing, and she had absolutely no idea what emotions they displayed._

 _"I have decided..." She turned her attention away from the display down to the demon at her side. She waited for his attention to turn up to her. "I will take a human form."_

 _"Oh? Why is that?" He asked, his brows furrowing as he tilted his head at her._

 _"That is none of your concern. What is, however, is that I will be leaving this place. I do not know whether I shall return, and you shall be the one to inform my brothers." She spoke in a matter of fact sort of way, with a tone that did not leave room for argument._

 _The demon below shifted uncomfortably on his feet, before bowing low at the hip._

 _"Alevia, sia usjalil." He said to her, quickly turning on his heel to exit the expansive chamber._

 _She watched each step he took, lazily lifting her tail and letting it thump back onto the marble._ As you wish, M'lady. _It was one of the few phrases she'd taught the demons she was more fond of._

* * *

The second time Sai became aware of the waking world, she was able to actually hear what was going on around her. Albeit, she was particularly sluggish and non-responsive. She was still slouched over someone's back, and her nose still proved to be of absolutely no use at all. Still surrounded by that insufferable heat. They could have dropped her into a lake, and she would have happily drowned.

Slowly, she pried open her eyes. Finding her cheek pressed into a dark fabric, and she snorted softly. "Put me down." She croaked when she spoke, her voice hoarse. It wasn't exactly surprising, with how raw her throat felt.

Just as it had the first time, she felt a jaw press into one of her arms as whoever it was carrying her looked over their shoulder at her. She didn't even care to look up to see who it was. She didn't want the help, and she certainly didn't need it.

Correction, she wouldn't admit to needing it.

The colors of red, yellow and white caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Within the moment, that effeminate red head had stepped into her clear line of vision. She couldn't even remember why he looked familiar.

His hand reached up, brushing her bangs from her face as he flattened a palm into her forehead. She had every desire to bite him, but couldn't find the strength to so much as tip her head up to do so.

"She still has a fever." Spoke the red head, quickly withdrawing his hand.

"Aren't demons supposed to have, like...wicked awesome immune systems or something?" Said a second voice, completely unfamiliar. It as gruff, and sounded rather silly with the way he chose to phrase his words.

"To humans, I suppose you could consider our immune systems superior, but we're not entirely unaffected. However, we can't be sure her fever is caused by a disease."

"You don't have to yell at me." Sai mumbled, staring up at the red head through tired eyes. Her words were slurred, and she tried to sound as irritated as absolutely possible, but it only seemed to make her sound as if she were pouting. She certainly was _not_ pouting.

The red head before her chuckled softly, pressing something between her lips. "I wasn't yelling." He said to her.

Sai's reaction was to bite down on the fingers he'd so willingly shoved into her mouth. How dare he! Although, it didn't seem as though the action proved to be very effective, she didn't have much strength to be put into her jaw. Taking off his finger should have been as easy as biting through a carrot, but she felt like she was faced with steel.

He quirked a brow at her, moving his free hand to grasp at her jaw. He opened her mouth just enough to force a tiny object to the back of her throat before withdrawing his fingers.

Why did she fell like she was experiencing a form of déjà vu?

No sooner than he'd had his hand free, he was forcing her jaw shut and tipping her head back. Rubbing her throat in a soothing manner that had her swallowing whatever it had been he'd forced into her mouth.

This was absolutely pathetic. She'd never felt so positively worthless in her entire life, and it certainly did an amazing job at pissing her off. "Next time, I'm gonna bite your damn fingers off." She'd tried to make the threat sound as malicious as possible, but the slurred syllables and the way her voice cracked didn't prove to be very helpful.

The red head chuckled at her as he turned away, and she thought she heard something along the lines of _I'm sure you will_ leave his mouth just as she slipped back under.

* * *

 _She'd left the fortress, just as she said she would. Without so much as a word to her brothers, and she hadn't turned back since._

 _What was the point of such a boring existence? They could battle for power all they wanted, she wanted something more than just senseless blood shed. Something that actually satisfied her. Something that_ challenged _her. Something that gave her purpose again._

 _For the first few years after leaving the company of her brothers, she had remained in her truest form. She continued to watch the human world, while studying various demons. There had been plenty enough that had attempted to kill her, they didn't know an better. Her power was tightly coiled and hidden within her, they didn't know what she was capable of. They were easily taken care of, and in some cases she'd treated them like a cat playing with a mouse._

 _Some larger groups were even bold enough to attempt to capture her to use for some sort of...pet? Something which they could ride upon and use for battle. They hadn't succeeded, but she did have to admire their efforts. Not to say that it had all been easy, some proved to be incredibly difficult._

Some _even recognized her, and avoided her like the damn plague. She couldn't blame them._

 _Once she was satisfied, she had taken that human form as she had claimed she would._ _When she had said she would be taking a human form, she'd meant so much more._

 _It had been...very_ different, _and it absolutely thrilled her. She was more than simply pleased with her handy work, and she'd spent years finding different ways to entertain herself. Now, no one could recognize her. She even traveled to Ningenkai and back as she so pleased. Of course, this was before the Kekkai had been erected._

 _Sometimes, when she'd grown bored of the humans and return to demon world, she'd even come across one of her brothers. However, in time it seemed as though they all simply disappeared. She could only assume they had taken to hibernation._

 _That was when the...territories in the Makai had changed. Without the power provided by her savage brothers, the demons had taken to claiming their own territories._

 _Eventually, three main sources of power rose to claim their own lands and had built their own civilizations. If she had to guess, it would have been at least a handful of decades after the disappearance of her siblings, perhaps even a century or two before the powers balanced themselves out. She honestly had a horrible sense of time. It seemed to pass by so quickly. These new figures of power became the new rulers, and she took an interest in studying each of the Kings and their interests._

 _She'd taken up a comfortable residence in the territory of Raizen. She could at least humor herself by surrounding herself with demons that at least had_ vaguely _similar eating habits._

 _However, once Raizen began his silly hunger strike, she had began to wonder again. Without being able to freely travel between the Makai and Ningenkai, she didn't know how to occupy her time. It began to seem rather pointless, so she did what any rational demon would do; she started taking unnecessary risks. Putting herself in dangerous situations on a near constant basis, if only to find the opponents that could best her._

 _When she wasn't putting her life at risk, she continued to watch the humans. Finding that as the decades passed, they only seem to entice her curiosity all the more._

* * *

The next time Sai regained consciousness, it was a very gradual awakening. She wasn't being carried anymore, she could gather that from the way she was laid out upon the ground. Her eyes rolled open, her vision blurred and fuzzy. The light did little to help, and she found herself staring off to one side to allow her sensitive eyes to adjust.

There was a hand that slipped around her jaw, and turned her head for her. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus her attention on whatever it was she was looking at.

She was greeted with gargled sounds and mumbled words. She groaned, squeezing her eyes closed. Not this again.

"...regain her sensory functions?" The voice that drifted into her ears was entirely new, something that didn't even register as familiar in a subconscious way. She felt something cold slip into the palm of one of her hands, and moments later there was something warm gliding over her skin. It felt like water trickled down her arm, though it never fell away from her skin.

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest." Now, that was a voice that she could register as vaguely familiar.

Her eyes rolled open again, turning her attention in the direction of the second voice. It didn't take much effort, considering it appeared as though that's where her face had been turned towards to begin with.

It was that red head, and in the light it was much easier to make out the details. His eyes weren't just a single shade of green, if was as if someone had decided to take every color green in the box and paint a monochrome kaleidoscope for his irises. His hair was a lot brighter than she had originally anticipated, and reflected the light in a way that gave it almost the same appearance as fresh blood.

"I am gonna kick your ass." The words were strained, and rather soft. They lacked any sense of true malice, and didn't seem to be a threat at all. She'd blame that on her physical state of being. She _meant_ those words.

He offered her a smile, one that seemed just as genuine as it was amused. "You may reconsider, but if you insist I won't deny you the opportunity."

He turned his attention from her, and she tried to scowl. Although, it looked much more like a pout than anything else. How was anyone going to take her seriously, like this?

"Will you be alright by yourself while I go to fetch Koenma?" The red head spoke, his attention settled directly ahead of himself.

Koenma? Was...was she in the Reikai? Suddenly, she didn't feel nearly as adamant about her threat as she had moments ago.

Sai's brows furrowed, and she rolled her head to her opposite side to follow the man's gaze. What she found at her opposite side was a young girl, one she quickly could identify as demon. She was gently guiding a cloth over her arm, washing away the dried blood with warm water. She seemed particular delicate, and it fit the gentle way she seemed to hold onto Sai's arm.

The young demon in question was dressed in a pale blue kimono, so pale it was almost white, complete with red obi. The sleeves of that kimono were tied all the way back up to her shoulders, securing them well out of the way. Her hair appeared to have a translucent quality to it, taking an aquamarine and mixing the color with only the faint hint of peridot. It made a wonderful shade of blue-green, and she could even see the color of the demon's eyes through her bangs, if only just barely. Her hair took on a serpentine shade where it hung over her eyes.

The young demon turned her attention to the red headed, and offered him one of the softest and most genuine smiles she'd ever seen. From this angle, with the demon's face tilted upward, Sai could see that her eyes were a shade of dark garnet and accented with tiny highlights of bright ruby that caught the light and practically made them sparkle like living jewels.

"I will be fine, Kurama-san." Her voice was just as soft as her smile, and Sai knew she wouldn't have the will to hurt this girl - even if she _did_ want to.

The red head turned his attention towards Sai, examining her with a critical eye before turning his attention back to the girl. "If you need anything, Yusuke and Hiei are right outside the door."

Sai couldn't resist turning her attention to the red head, and sticking her tongue out at him. The expression seemed to take him by surprise, but soon enough he was shaking his head at her.

The young demon beside her had giggled softly, returning her attention to cleansing the caked on blood on her arm.

The red head, Kurama is what the young girl had called him, seemed hesitant to leave the room. He lingered there with them, and Sai merely took to ignoring him completely. Turning her attention to the delicate hands so carefully washing at her skin. She wasn't use to being treated like glass, at least not by demons.

Eventually, she heard the click of a door closing, and the soft muttering of voices just beyond.

"What's your name?" Sai muttered softly, clearing her throat in some sort of attempt to sooth it after she spoke.

The young demon briefly turned her attention towards her, seeming mildly surprised that Sai had attempted to start a conversation with her. "Oh, my name is Yukina. I was told your name is Sai, is that right?"

Sai forced herself to smile, it was terribly difficult, and only just barely there. "That's right. Can you tell me where I am?"

Yukina turned her attention to a bowl settled at her side upon the floor. Discarding the blood saturated cloth into a small bucket. She reached for a a clean one, dipping it into a clean bowl of water and ringing it out before returning to her task. "Are you familiar with the psychic known as Genkai?"

Sai took a few moments to simply watch Yukina work, rattling her brain for any recognition of the name. She hummed softly before gently rocking her head back and forth, "Doesn't ring any bells."

"Oh, well. This is her temple, we're in the Human world." She was thankful for the way Yukina spoke so softly. An louder, and Sai feared her head might split open.

"That boy...Kurama?" She hesitated, and only continued when Yukina offered her a gentle nod. "He mentioned Koenma, they are associates?"

"Uhm..." Yukina paused for a brief moment, furrowing her brow as she attempted to think of just a way to phrase her words. "I suppose that's an appropriate thing to call them. Genkai-sama is an old friend of Koenma-sama's, and Kurama-san is what you could call an employee from time to time. He lives here in the human world."

"I see." Sai's lips twisted into a frown, and her brow furrowed lightly. She rattled her brain for a short time, she remembered there being...others that had been with Kurama. However, she couldn't remember who they were, or even what they looked like. She could only assume they were, by association, allies. So did that mean Koenma had sent other operatives after her? He'd never done that before, and she didn't know whether she felt offended or not.

Well, no. She was definitely offended. Even if she _had_ needed the help, she wouldn't have admitted to it. Not out loud, anyway. Truth be told, she was rather thankful for the assistance.

Sai let her eyes drift closed. Yukina had cleaned most of the blood from her arm, and had worked her way up to her shoulder and around her collar bone. She seemed to be even more delicate when dabbing at Sai's neck, and soon enough the gentle actions had lulled her back into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Greeting my friends! This chapter focuses more on memories than anything else! It's not everything there is, of course. More like...a quick over view of the "later years" in Sai's life. Mostly accounting for the time spent after taking human form, and a few years prior. Although, to those of you that are familiar with YYH's time line, you'll notice that she's really**_ **really _old._** ** _I couldn't put as much information in the memories as I wanted to, so needless to say there's a_ lot _that's still missing. I essentially only put the bare minimum in here. It is important to the story, though, considering the little tidbits I hid and hinted at in them. Any who,_**

 _ **Credits:**_ _ **Chapter titled after "Meditate" by CES Cru.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Shut Up and Smile

.

Chapter 6

Shut Up and Smile

* * *

When Sai awoke, she found herself alone. Her eyes had rolled open in such a lazy fashion, and she was left in the dark. It brought a rush of memory of the last few weeks back to her mind, and panic struck in full force. Her eyes snapped open, and she jerked her arms to her chest with a sharp intake of air. She immediately regretted the action. She'd struck her chest with more force than she had intended, and it caused that insufferable pain to blossom within her spirit.

Her teeth gnashed together, and she must have bitten into her tongue, because she tasted the blood. She rolled onto her side, curling into herself with a pained groan. It was difficult to focus on anything else, even her surroundings.

It was only when the pain ebbed that she noticed the soft surface that her cheek pressed into. Her eyes fluttered open, and this time she allowed herself the time for her vision to adjust to the lack of lighting. She noticed a dim glimmer above her head, and her attention turned up to a curtain veiled window, with the sunlight glowing from behind it. It must have been a blackout curtain, because the light was only visible around the outer edges of the curtain.

She slowly pushed herself onto the palms of her hands, reached for the curtain and yanked it aside. Light flooded in through the window, and her eyes briefly watered from the assault. She took a survey of the room around her, noticing only a bare minimum of accessories.

She had been laying on a futon laid out on the floor, in the corner of the room. The window was positioned at her right side, and she noticed two doors. One at the wall opposite of her to her left, and one on the wall her body faced towards. There was a free standing room divider positioned in the corner diagonal to her, featuring four panels that sported the decoration of bamboo. The only other addition to the room was a chest of drawers positioned to her left, against the wall behind her and in the opposite corner.

Upon taking a study of herself, she noticed the lack of blood and the addition of clothing. Nothing fabulous, only a teeshirt that was far too large and a pair of shorts to match. Tied around her waist with a draw string. That was when she remembered that girl, what was her name...Yu...Yu-something. She couldn't quite pull the name out of her memory. She attempted to recall the conversation, remembering there had been a handful of other names that had been mentioned.

That was when the name of the Spirit Prince slammed into her. That was one of the names that girl had mentioned, that she was in some place belonging to some psychic that was associated with Koenma.

She shifted, having every intention of finding the prince that very moment. However, she struggled to stand on her own feet. For some reason, she felt incredibly...weak. Her body was stiff, and it was painful to move. With the support of the walls, she took only a moment to adjust herself before stumbling across the room.

The first door she pulled open only welcomed her with low, empty shelves and a bar stretched across the top of the small enclosure. A closet. Her face twisted in a show of irritation and she left the door wide open so that she could turn and stumble over to the only remaining door.

She yanked it open with a jolt of pain searing into her bones, and fell straight onto her hands and knees. She glared down at the floor boards, her nails digging into the wood and leaving marks as she growled softly at herself.

"Don't work yourself too hard, princess."

The voice startled her, and her attention jerked to her right in the direction it had come from.

There was a young man sprawled out on the floor with his back leaned up on the wall next to the door. His arms were crossed behind his head, and his legs stretched out on the floor and across half the hallway. Dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a white tee shirt, with a mop of black hair.

"Where's Koenma?" She snorted softly, grabbing ahold of the door frame to help hoist her back up to her feet.

His attention turned up to her, and he quirked a brow. "What, no hello, howdy do, how the hell are ya?"

Sai snorted in response, letting her lips twist into a scowl. "No." Of course not!

and he offered her a shrug. "He went back to Spirit World."

Sai's expression twisted once again. She scrunched up her nose, and it looked as if she wanted to show teeth with the way her lips curled. "Well isn't that convenient."

She took a stumbling step into the hall, curling her arms around her chest with a silent snarl. Although the pain wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, it still effected her body in a way that (in simple words) pissed her off.

"Where do you think you're going?" The young boy spoke as he pushed himself to his feet, arms still crossed behind his head.

She offered him a glare and a scowl. "I'm going on a pleasant walk, over the river and through the woods." She snorted, a heavy level of sarcasm drenched in every word.

"Well you're already at Grandma's house," He threw the words back at her without any form of hesitation, and the humor in his voice caught her off guard.

Her mouth gaped open the slightest bit, and she could only blink at him. She honestly hadn't expected him to push her own snide joke right back at her.

"There's no where else for you to go, why don't you just take it easy and I'll go get Botan so she can get you in touch with Pacifier Mouth." His arms finally fell from behind his head as he took a few steps towards her, and even reached a hand out for her arm.

She jerked one of her own arms from around her chest, batting his hand away with the sound of that rattlesnake growl chattering away in her throat. "I don't _need_ rest."

His expression twisted in a show of irritation, and he crossed his arms over his chest. There was a short moment of silence before he breathed a heavy sigh, crossing his arms back over his head. He swung around on the heel of his sneaker, and began walking down the hall. Of course, she didn't immediately start following him, and had no intentions to at first.

He turned back in her direction when he'd made it nearly half way down the hall. "Well, are you comin' or not?"

"Where exactly will you be taking me?" There wasn't denying the hints of suspicion and accusation in her voice. She couldn't help but be wary, and it was almost a foreign feeling to her. Caution hadn't exactly been one of her dominant traits. It wasn't exactly surprising it'd surface now, though, not after what she'd been put through so recently.

"Botan. If anyone can get you in touch with Koenma, it's her." He offered her a shrug after he spoke, as if saying if she didn't want to follow then she didn't necessarily have to.

"And what connection does she have with him?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she'd really had a chance to think about it.

"She's, uh...the Grim Reaper?" He rubbed at the back of his head when he spoke, as if trying to find another way to describe the woman in question.

Sai tipped her head to one side, she didn't have any problems translating the information. Botan, in short, was one of the pilots of the River Styx. One of Koenma's fairy girls that lead ghosts to the Reikai.

She turned towards the stranger, took a deep breath, and have every intention of walking _without_ tripping over her own feet.

It didn't work out for her very well, though. Regardless, she pushed forward. Once she was a few paces away from him, the boy turned and continued to the far end of the hall. His gate covered much more ground than hers did, and she knew he was pacing himself for her benefit. It made her sick to her stomach, and she turned her nose up at her own weakness.

At the end of the hall, the boy pushed aside a sliding door, allowing sunlight to flood the hall. Her immediate reaction was to squint at the light, blinking rapidly to the harsh change from the dim hall to the light outside. He stepped outside and turned the corner and disappeared from her immediate line of sight.

She stumbled right after him, and nearly _into_ him when she rounded the corner. He'd been standing right on the other side of the door, and she hadn't been expecting that. He caught her with one hand, and it was an immediate reaction to shrug him off. She didn't _need_ his help.

He leaned over to grab the edge of the door, and slide it closed. "Grandma's kinda a stickler for closing doors to the living areas, didn't figure you'd care too much for that, but it's just something for you to remember while you're here."

She snorted in response, readjusting her hold around her sides. He turned, and began walking across the porch. She took the moment to observe the environment around her. Vast forests, rolling hills and tall tree covered mountains as far as she could see. She had to admit, it was rather pleasant to look at. The chirp of birds and the chatter of the forest critters near the building didn't escape her ear, either.

By the time they reached their destination, they crossed from one porch to another, took a detour through one of the buildings and came back out on the other side. From there, the boy had rounded another corner and lead her to the end of the porch and opened up another door.

He'd sauntered in without a word, and she was disgruntled to discover that she could only pick up soft murmurs from within rather than whole sentences. Her hearing wasn't normally so...pathetic. Well, it certainly fit in with the rest of her right now. She felt like the literal walking definition of the word.

She stumbled after him, leaning up on the door frame with a pained grunt of air escaping her lungs. What she discovered inside aside from the boy that lead her there, were four other individuals. Three females, and one male. She recognized the red head and one of the young females from before as the demon who she held that brief conversation with, and she still couldn't remember her name.

Additionally, there was an older woman. With dull pink hair that had taken on a gray tint to it as a result of her age. Dressed in an older style of red and white martial arts wear. Her eyes reminded her of coffee, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about her from a simple glance.

The remaining woman was much more..loud, in terms of color. Her hair was just as bright and blue as a clear summer's day, with a par of eyes that looked like she'd plucked feathers straight off a flamingo and shoved them into her irises. Dressed in a long sleeved button down, orange, collar shirt and a chocolate brown vest with blue jeans.

"Well isn't this a shocker. Koenma said you wouldn't be out of bed for at least a month or two." By the sound of the raspy, tired and worn edge of the voice, Sai didn't have to look to know it was the older woman that had spoken.

"What can I say, I don't like laying on my ass." Sai snorted softly, turning her attention over to the elder woman.

"Well, can't say I can call you a slacker." The elder woman sounded amused, and even smirked as she lifted her cup to sip from. From the smell in the air, Sai could only assume it was an herbal tea.

She was far too older to be one of Koenma's fairy girls. She might not have been able to remember the one demon's name, but she knew it wasn't 'Botan'. That left only the girl with the flamingo eyes.

She turned her attention over to her, "You, cotton candy princess." She leveled a finger towards the woman, who in turn made one of the most ridiculous faces she'd ever seen.

"You...You mean me?" She sputtered out, pointing to herself.

"I don't see anyone else that looks like sugar fluff." She huffed out, pulling her arm back to wrap it back around her chest. "You're Botan, right?"

The occupants in the room seemed to tense, most noticeably the elder woman and the red haired pretty boy.

The woman in question nodded hesitantly, ringing the hem of her shirt in a show of her nerves.

Sai snorted softly, but could she honestly blame them? They were just as uncomfortable with her as she was with them. It came to reason there would be a bit of...tension between them, to say the least.

"You got a way to patch me in to Diaper Rash?" She took a stumbling step into the room, finally letting herself fall to her knees.

"Diaper...Rash?" Botan repeated the words back.

Sai couldn't help but roll her eyes. She readjusted herself to sit cross legged on the floor so that she could easily slouch forward, propping her elbows upon her knees. "Piss Pants, Pumpkin Head, Binky Breath, Pacifier Mouth. I can go on."

"Oh, you mean Lord Koenma!" Botan's voice raised an octave at her realization, she even snapped her fingers as if it had been some sort of revelation.

"That's what I said." Sai snorted, and the sound of joyful laughter caused her to turn her attention back to the boy that lead her head.

"And I thought I had thought of all the things to call him!" He laughed out, but Sai merely offered him a rather blank expression. This boy, obviously, wasn't nearly as tense as the others. Of course, she hadn't taken the time to note whether or not that kind little demon girl's body language just yet, either.

"Well?" She pressed, turning her attention back to Botan.

The woman blinked at her a few times, placing her index finger upon her chin as she thought. "I might have one of the communication mirrors in my room."

To Sai, it seemed as though she were thinking aloud more than answering a question. "Well, go look. I'm not getting any younger." She snorted softly.

Botan stared at her for a moment, and after some time Sai made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Right. Be back in a jiffy, then." The reaper chirped, hopping up onto her feet and rushing passed Sai. Of course, she'd been given a wide berth.

Sai's attention followed the woman out, and when she disappeared around the corner, she was left to turn her attention back to the remaining occupants. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days, by my count. You've been out like a light most of the time, and you blabber like a fool in your sleep." The old woman pipped up, and Sai couldn't help but scowl at the information.

Three days of sleeping around strangers. Three days of babbling about hell only knew what, or whether or not it had even been comprehensible. Regardless if those strangers did end up helping her, and it didn't matter that they were associates of Koenma. She still wasn't comfortable being unconscious around anyone she didn't trust, and she could say she trusted them as much as a rabbit trusted a hungry wolf.

She snorted softly, letting her head hang forward as she rubbed her fingers into her temples. Three days, and she still felt the lingering effects of the pain. It sparked in her chest, little crackles of insufferable agony, whenever she moved the wrong way. Not to mention the fact that her darker companion hadn't responded to her thoughts, nor had she supplied any additional emotions that she'd become far too accustomed to. It was unsettling, and she had absolutely no idea why it was she couldn't communicate with the beast.

"Sai-san, would you like some tea?" Came the sound of a vaguely familiar voice.

She lifted her head up out of her hands, faced with that gentle and kind young demon girl. Sai's expression softened, and she even offered the girl a light smile. "No, thank you."

"Are you sure? It might help you relax, you seem awfully tense." The demon girl spoke softly, and Sai felt a small twinge of guilt for not being able to remember her name.

"I'm positive. There is one thing, though. I can't remember what you told me your name was." Sai said as she leaned to rest her cheek into the palm of one of her hands.

"No worries, it's Yukina." She spoke softly, in a way that was practically gentle.

Sai couldn't help but feel as if Yukina had to have been one of the most trusting demons she had ever met. It was almost refreshing, and her lips twisted up even further. Of course, she could have just been entirely wrong in her assumption.

"This is Genkai-sama, and this young man here is Yusuke-san, and you've already met Kurama-san." Yukina motioned toward each person when their name came up.

Given that Sai wasn't half unconscious and delirious, she knew she'd be able to commit the names to memory.

"Weren't there more party crashers in your little troop before?" Sai sounded almost bored when she spoke, letting her eyes fall closed.

"Hiei and Kuwabara, yes." Spoke the red head, sparing no glance away from the book he had settled in front of him.

"What, are they antisocial or something?" Sai snorted as she spoke, shifting her posture so that she could stretch her arms up over her head. She didn't care, either way. If they were, at least she'd have two less people to grind on her last nerves.

"It's still early, Kuwabara tends to sleep later than the rest of us. Hiei is a bit of a loner, though. He'll come around when he needs to." Kurama was the one to speak again, and Sai rolled her eyes open in a bored and lazy fashion.

One less person.

"I'm back!" Chirped a bubbly voice from behind, and Sai didn't have to turn to look to know it was the fairy girl.

Botan pranced up to her side, leaving a respectable distance between them as she settled on her knees. She held what looked like a simple compact, and Sai couldn't help but quirk a brow at it.

Botan seemed satisfied, though, as she flipped open the palm sized device. "Botan to Lord Koenma, do you copy?"

There was a crackle of static, and although it sounded somewhat robotized, Sai didn't have any trouble placing a face to the voice that spoke back through the compact. "Loud a clear, Botan, what is it?"

Sai leaned over so that she could see the inside of the compact, having to brace herself on the palms of her hands to get into a position that allowed her to do so.

Botan shifted uncomfortably when she did so, but made no attempt to put any distance between them. "Sai's awake, and she wanted to talk to you, Sir."

As if it had been an invitation, Sai reached over and plucked the mirror from Botan's hands. Earning a rather flabbergasted look from the Reaper.

She straightened herself back out, peering into the mirror to find the toddler perked among piles of paperwork at his desk. "I didn't expect you to be awake for weeks."

Sai snorted at the statement, her lips twisting into a deep scowl while her nose scrunched up. "What's the deal with sending a rescue party after me? I was doing just fine without your help." Her tone was simply furious, if nothing else.

Koenma visibly recoiled behind his desk, his pacifier drooping as his mouth gaped open. "Fine? Just fine?! You are out of your mind!"

"If you hadn't jumped the gun, I could have gotten myself out." Sai sneered, narrowing her eyes towards the face of the mirror.

Koenma, although obviously none to happy with her, quickly regained his composure. The only evidence of his frustration with her was the fact his eyebrows were pulled so close together it appeared as if he had a mono-brow. "I'm afraid that choice wasn't up to you."

There was a low growl that rumbled in her chest, chattering with the sound of that rattlesnake in her throat as she tightened her grasp on the compact. "Now, Sai. Care to tell me how you got captured in the first place?"

She snorted heavily at the toddler, her face twisting into an expression of both disgust and apprehension. She could feel more than just Koenma eyeballing her while she stared the toddler down.

"Is it really any of your business?" She sounded snide when she spoke, but there was something else lingering in the sharp edge of her tone.

"As a matter of fact, it is. I'm very interested to know how one of Spirit World's most valuable assets came to be subdued." The toddler replied in a stained calm, and she had to grind her teeth together to hold her tongue.

It wasn't an immediate response, she couldn't just spit it out as if it were nothing. There were far too many things that simply twisted her stomach into too man knots. She found it far too difficult to rein in her composure with the many different emotions attempting to wrestle for control.

"It was my brother, I let my guard down because it was _him_ and he turned on me before I ever had a chance to realize what he'd done." Her voice was low, dark and strained as she spoke. Her eyes fell closed and she had to fight every urge to simply crush that mirror in the palm of her hand.

"Your brother? Shin?" Koenma looked stunned when her eyes rolled back open, and she forced the most neutral mask she was capable of crafting onto her face.

"That's the one." Her voice was completely devoid of emotion, as if she'd locked them all away behind a wall to keep herself from breaking down. It was the only way she could have hoped to continue on with the conversation without losing control.

"That would explain that, then...he would have been able to get close to you without you ever suspecting a thing was wrong." Koenma had cupped his chin with his index and thumb, taking on a thoughtful expression.

"While detained, I did piece together one thing. That woman that tortured me wouldn't shut up about how her _master,"_ Sai spat the word as if it were poison in her mouth, "was going to make the world a better place, _the way things were before Raizen_." She shifted as she spoke, settling the mirror onto the ground in front of her and angling it so that she could still look at the Prince as she spoke.

"Before Raizen? You mean like the time when the Xojorei ruled." The fox spoke, turning her attention away from the mirror and onto him.

"That's the only thing I can assume. Although, if Raijin wanted power, why wouldn't he participate in the Makai Tournament?" Although there wasn't a hint of curiosity in her expression or voice, the tip of her head was enough indication.

"My assumption is that whom ever this 'Master' is that's being referred to isn't the real Raijin. Perhaps some lower level of demon that's taken on his name in hopes of using the influence that comes with it to sway greater power then what they currently possess." Koenma chimed in, bringing her attention back down to the mirror.

"Hold on, wait a minute! What the hell is a zor-ro-what'sie and what the hell does it have to do with this Raijin person?" Yusuke spoke, flopping himself down right beside Sai. Unlike Botan, the young man had no problems nearly brushing shoulders with her, more than likely to be able to get a good look at the toddler behind the mirror.

Sai turned her attention to him, quirking a brow. "Xojorei. They're said to be an ancient species of demon, one of the larger ones. They disappeared roughly...two or three thousand years ago?" There was a bit of confusion in her voice as she spoke, as if she couldn't really recall the correct amount of time.

"About that, more or less." The fox spoke up.

"I was always told such terrible stories about them when I was a child, we should be happy they're gone." Yukina was the one to chime in this time.

Sai didn't exactly have anything positive or negative to add to the statement, and she kept her attention focused upon Yusuke. "Raijin was one of them, and his name is something of a taboo. Demons stopped naming their children after the Xojorei for fear they'd be killed."

"Sounds like a fantastic time to have been alive." Yusuke's sarcasm was painfully evident.

Sai couldn't help but crack a smile at him, covering the evidence of a laugh with a loud snort.

"They're nothing more than a ghost story these days. No one knows what happened to them, and there are so many different myths about them it's hard to determine what's true and what isn't. Though there is reoccurring information in many of the stories." She offered a shrug as she spoke, as if she was ready to dismiss the topic all together.

"So enlighten us to some of this information." Genkai's voice rose up, and Sai found herself looking at the old woman while she sipped at a cup of tea.

Sai tipped her head curiously, rattling her brain to determine just what information would be useful, and what would simply be unnecessary.

"The Xojorei were a rare species, born out of hatred and darkness. Around fifty feet in size, and said to have very few distinguishable characteristics. They were a quadrupedal species. The only thing that's known now is that they were black with red eyes, although there are some demons that insist that they looked a lot like dragons. That, and they had the capability to manipulate different elements. Although, up until Raijin and a handful of his family clan went on a rampage, no one thought much about them." Kurama had taken on a neutral expression as he spoke, like he had no interest in the information he was handing out. The subtle tension Sai noticed in his expression lead her to believe he wasn't as indifferent as he wanted to appear to be.

"So what pissed them off?" Yusuke spoke as he crossed his arms over his chest, and Sai brought her attention back to him.

"The stories say they went into a rage after the rest of their species was killed off, leaving them to be the only ones left. They destroyed anyone and anything that fell into their path for years. By the time their anger subsided, they had left a deep impression on the population." Koenma chimed in, reminding Sai that there was still an open communication with the prince.

"They ended up ruling over both human and demon world for centuries, and it was said to be one of the darkest times in history. From everything that I've heard, they truly did live up to the name of their species." Kurama still hadn't lost that indifferent expression as he spoke, and his voice held an unnatural calm to it. He had finally settled his book down, seeming to grant his full attention to the conversation at hand.

"And what does that mean?" Yusuke pipped up, sounding a smidgen irritated that he didn't understand what the fox was getting at.

"Xojorei translated into the human language means 'savage'." She offered shifting to wrap her arms back around her chest.

"Savages, huh? So they were these mindless beasts with a bad temper?" Te detective asked with his attention darting between the fox and Sai.

"Not at all. They were said to be incredibly intelligent. They were named for their brutality, and that they would make a meal out of both humans and demons alike." Sai said, placing her cheek back into the palm of her hand.

"I was told that they were the original of Kyukonki, so it didn't matter what their choice of species was. I was also told that many demons took after their example, and chose to feast on human souls." Yukina's soft voice caught Sai's attention, although she did keep her gaze upon Yusuke.

"On the topic of Kyukonki. Some stories even say they're responsible for the creation of some demon species, although there's no real way to prove this to be true or false." Kurama offered with the slight tip of his head.

"So if they've been gone for thousands of years, that could only mean this 'Master' guy is an impostor, right?" Yusuke spoke up again, scratching at the underside of his chin as he turned his gaze upward.

"Not necessarily. There's just as much the likelihood that the demon we're dealing with could possibly be the real Raijin. Considering no one has any knowledge about the how or why of their disappearance, we can't immediately assume they're dead." The fox offered in return.

"Kurama is right, there is no way of knowing whether this threat is Raijin, or an imposture assuming his name in hope to acquire power. The safest option for us is to assume that it is truly him." Koenma said, and when Sai turned her attention down to the mirror she found the toddler with a more solemn expression.

"So what exactly do we have to look forward to?" Yusuke slouched forward when he spoke, bracing his elbows on his knees as he looked into the mirror.

"To be perfectly honest, Yusuke, I'm not sure. I wouldn't even be able to tell you what Raijin looks like. The records department may have more concrete information about him and his species, but it will take some time to acquire it." The Prince replied, pinching his index and thumb against the bridge of his nose.

"I might have an idea." The words tumbled out of Sai's mouth before she had a chance to truly think about it. She took note that every pair of eyes in the room had turned to her, and she let her eyes fall closed with a snort.

"Let's think about it for a moment. If this is Raijin, then he would have the capability of overthrowing the chain of command on his own. Assuming he hasn't grown weak in his years of absence, and assuming the stories about his strength are true. If they are true, he would have been able to destroy the three Kings when they ruled over their respective territories." She shifted her position as she spoke, practically mimicking Yusuke.

"I assume what you're thinking is that if he truly wanted to reclaim power over demon world, then why wait?" Kurama asked when she hesitated to speak.

"Not exactly. When you think about it logically, someone as old as Raijin would know how to play a mean game of chess. Now that Raizen has been out of the picture for a few years, and Demon World serves under one ruler it would make for an easier match than attempting to overthrow three different monarchies at once." She continued on, straightening her back out and reaching up to run her fingers through her hair. Her hand caught on many different clusters of knots, and when she pulled her hands away, she noticed the bits of crusted blood clinging to her skin.

"I suppose that makes for a more tactical view of it, but that also means the number of demons that Raijin would be facing would be triple they were when ruled by three different demons." Kurama returned back to her.

"Yes, but then you also have the demons who don't like the new rules. The ones that still choose to overlook them and do as they will, anyway. The criminals, we'll say. Alongside those, Raijin is practically looked upon as a god. Who's to say there wouldn't be demons willing to turn their backs on their King for a God?" She said, brushing her hands against the fabric of the shirt she wore.

There was a silence that overtook the room, and her attention turned over to the red head who had been sustaining most of her conversation thus far. He had taken on a rather thoughtful expression.

"That's a number we wouldn't be able determine." He said after some time.

"Wait a minute, we already took down his two hideouts, and one of them didn't even have but that lady in it!" Yusuke chimed in with a voice much too loud for Sai's taste. She jerked a hand up to slap over her ear with a low growl and a glare sent to the man beside her.

"As true as that is, Yusuke, think about it...someone with as much experience as Raijin wouldn't be so foolish. As we know, the demons in the obvious fortress were a particularly low level. Expendable pawns, if you will. While the second was practically abandoned." Kurama continued to speak with that level of calm, and Sai found herself to be envious.

"Anyone smart enough would play his cards in a way that would make his opponent think they have the upper hand, lull them into a state of false security. There's no telling who already works for Raijin. For all we know, there could be countless operating as double agents." Sai added, letting her hand fall down from it's place at the side of her head.

"And he has that woman that's capable of stealing fragments of one's soul to manipulate them, anyone Raijin deems necessary to his plans he could control by force if he was able to capture them." The fox, once more.

Yusuke's lips pulled into a fine line, and he clapped his hands into his cheeks. His elbows jutted out to the sides, one knocking right into Sai's shoulder.

With as much grace as she possessed at the moment, she toppled over onto the floor with a grunt. Rewarded with a blistering rush of soul searing pain upon contact that caused her to loose her breath. She curled into herself, clutching tightly at her chest with a rattling growl echoing in her throat. She leveled a withering glare towards the young man.

"Whoops, sorry." He offered her a grin, scratching his index finger over the tip of her nose.

Sai wrenched one of her legs out from herself, slamming her heel into his side. "Watch what the hell you're doing, idiot!"

Yusuke yelped, grabbing ahold of his side. He offered her a grimace and didn't hesitate to grab ahold of the collar of her shirt and jerk her up off the floor.

"Children!" Genkai snapped, drawing both Sai's and Yusuke's attention to her.

Yusuke had drawn his fist back, ready to land a solid punch, but his fist hovered in mid air.

"He started it." Sai snorted, if she was going to be called a child then she might as well respond like one.

Yusuke turned a scowl over to her, releasing his grip on her collar. She toppled to the floor, landing painfully on her tail bone and sending a jolt of pain up her spine.

"So, in short, Sai," Koenma's voice spoke up. He briefly passed to clear his throat, bringing her attention back to the mirror. "What you're assumption is is that Raijin, at some point, is going to attempt to destroy the current form of government in Demon World."

Sai shifted, crossing her legs as she faced the mirror and rubbing at the center of her chest. "More or less, but there's little else for me to assume. It just doesn't make sense, there was a tournament to determine the new King last year."

"If this is truly Raijin, perhaps his plans aren't so obvious as we'd like to make them appear." Kurama spoke up again.

"You have any other ideas, pretty boy?" Sai took on a rather mocking tone when she spoke the chosen nickname, but it didn't seem to phase the fox.

"At the moment, no." His eyes fell closed as he spoke.

"Sai, do you have any ideas where we might be able to locate your brother? He'd be our best lead in the case." Koenma asked, and Sai turned a wary attention back onto the toddler.

She worked her jaw to one side and pressed her lips into a fine line. If that man didn't want to be found, he _wouldn't_ be. "It's...hard to say."

Truth be told, she didn't have a decent connection with him anymore. If that wasn't evident by how quickly he turned against her, nothing would have been. "We don't exactly talk like we did when we were growing up." She snorted, slowly crossing her arms over her chest.

For some time, the Prince merely stared at her in silence. Eventually, his eyes fell closed and he shook his head. "No ideas at all?"

Sai let her eyes fall closed, tipping her head down the slightest bit as she tapped a finger on her elbow. There might have been a handful of places she could have thought to look, but she couldn't guarantee anything. More than likely, he'd end up finding her before she found him.

"You're planning to go after him alone, aren't you?" The toddler's voice bounced in her ears like a loud echo. Her eyes rolled open, narrowed down on the mirror.

"What makes you think that?" She snorted at him.

"You're a lot like Yusuke in the sense that you can be incredibly impulsive and irrational," the Prince began.

"Hey!" The young man, having reclaimed his seat beside her, shouted towards the mirror.

"Don't get so offended, Yusuke. Now, Sai, not only that, but you are incredibly...goal oriented. Am I correct in assuming you want him to pay for what he did to you." Koenma posed the question more like a statement, it sounded strange without that subtle hint of inflection at the end where it should have gone.

He'd hit the nail square on the head. She bared her teeth and slammed her palms down into the hardwood floor. "Of course! He's _going_ to suffer for what he did!"

"That, right there, is the reason I can't allow you to do this." Koenma leveled one of his pudgy fingers at her.

Sai bristled, hissing through her teeth. "You think you can just determine that for me?"

"Actually, yes. Effective immediately, you're being removed from this case." The Prince spoke with a calm that only furthered her anger.

She snatched the mirror up off the ground, still braced with her other hand on the floor. "You can't do that!"

"I can do whatever I see fit. Besides, as you are right now, you'd only get in the way." The words he spoke made her see red.

"Get in the way? Do you realize who the hell you're talking to?!" She spoke the words through a growl, that rattle chattering in her throat and giving her voice an eerie hiss.

"Sai, you've lost a substantial amount of energy. I can't let the fate of the world rest in your hands simply because you have a score to settle with your brother." It was clear for her to see he was struggling to keep his composure.

"And you think you can stop me?" She snorted, her claws digging into the floor boards.

She saw Yusuke shift beside her, however she didn't pay him any mind. The sound of the legs of a chair scraping against the ground turned her gaze up to the red head, who had pushed himself to his feet.

The way he stood, the way he looked at her with such a calm expression and cold, calculating eyes. She slowly turned her attention to the man beside her, noting the way he'd shifted into a position that would allow him to easily tackle her with a simple burst of power. He eyed her like she was a ticking time bomb.

Her expression twisted, and she caught a flicker of black in the corner of her vision. Her head turned to look over her shoulder, towards the door.

There stood a man she hadn't committed to memory just yet. Dressed in black from head to toe, aside from a few articles here and there. Black shoes, and black trousers with bandages wrapped over them and his ankles half way up his calves. Black, sleeveless shirt, with another set of bandages wrapped nearly all the way up his arms. With the sunlight drifting into the room behind him, his hair was a jagged set of spikes that looked to be black color. The strands vaguely twinkled dark sapphire where the light was able to catch it.

She didn't recognize any part of him until she noticed his eyes. Narrowed on her the way a tiger might see a lesser adversary. As if she were inferior. Even with them in the shadow, she could make out their color easily. The color of scarlet, darkened with the accents of carmine and red wine.

"Do you really want to try, Sai?" The Prince spoke after some time, drawing her attention back to the mirror.

She could feel the energy behind her bristling, held back with as much success as one might hope to stop a rolling wave with their bare hands. It felt violent, and dark, and fierce.

The energy provided by Yusuke wasn't nearly as ominous, but it was oppressive. While Kurama was perfectly unreadable. As if he'd reined in his energy all at once.

She'd be stupid if she thought she could out match all three of them in her state, one good blow to the chest (or anywhere near it) and she'd be in crippling pain. She wasn't in any condition to fight, not that she would admit such a thing.

"Let's assume I agree to cooperate, what then?" She spoke through her teeth, with no hint of satisfaction in her voice what-so-ever. She was so far from pleased.

She saw Koenma visibly relaxed, and he even let out a heavy sigh. "We need to determine whether your energy will return or not. It's been three days, with no signs of it growing at all."

"And then?" She pressed, her lips turning into a deep scowl.

"If, by chance, you do regain your energy...if you don't do anything stupid, I'll reassign you to the case." The Prince spoke as he rubbed at one of his temples.

"Define stupid." Was her immediate response. She had to question it. If she _didn't_ have him spell it out for her, he could claim nearly anything she did as _stupid_.

Koenma eyed her for a moment, before folding his arms across his desk and weaving his fingers together. "I expect you not to attempt to run off on your own, and I expect for you not to give Genkai any trouble. You'll be staying with her while you recuperate."

Sai leveled her gaze straight upon his, her expression twisting into a sign of her displeasure.

"If I need to, I'll hold you here in spirit world until I see fit." The Prince added, and Sai's lip pulled back over her fangs.

"That won't be necessary." She hissed through her teeth.

"Then you accept my terms?" The Prince asked with the quirk of a curious brow.

"I'll agree to your regulations, under the condition that I can retrieve my things from my home in Human World." She returned, settling the mirror upon the ground once again.

"What if I have them delivered to you?" Koenma said, his expression didn't falter.

Sai tipped her head, taking a few moments to mull the option over. In truth, she'd wanted the time to pilfer through her belongings.

"Alright, fine." She snorted softly after only a short time.

Koenma let out another heavy sigh, and slumped back into his chair in a rather unprofessional manor.

That didn't settle the tension around her, though. Nor did the trio of men immediately brush the matter aside.

Sai pushed herself up onto her feet, stumbling in place a step or two.

"Sai, remember, you can't run off anywhere on your own!" Koenma shouted from behind the mirror, and Sai couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Daddio. I'll be sure to give my baby sitters my absolute _best_ behavior," the sarcasm laced into her voice was so thick it was nearly tangible.

She heard the prince groan from the speakers as she turned on her heel, and her almost casual expression immediately soured. That man was still standing there in the doorway, effectively baring the exit. By the looks of it, he didn't have any plans on stepping out of her way.

She propped her hands on her hips, returning the same violent expression to him that he was giving to her. It was just as it had been when she'd first saw those eyes, only this time he didn't have a hand around her throat.

"Excuse me, Sai-san?" The soft, almost gentle and timid voice didn't immediately draw her attention away from the red eyed demon.

It was the gentle brush of cold finger tips over her arm that jerked her attention toward the source.

Yukina visibly flinched at the look she received, and Sai immediately felt a small twinge of guilt. She thought she heard the sound of a growl creeping from the doorway, but she hardly payed it any mind.

Her expression fell, and her arms dropped to hang at her side. Her shoulders slouched, and her expression softened toward the young demon. "Yes?" She spoke quietly, and Yukina returned with a smile.

"Would you like something to eat? You must be hungry after sleeping for so long." Said the young girl.

"I'm fine, Sweetheart. Thank you, though." It was an automatic and almost immediate response. It was simply habit to refuse offerings of food, and they did say old habits die hard.

Yukina tipped her head a bit, more confused than curious by the looks of it. "Are you sure? It might help you regain some of your strength."

Sai opened her mouth to reject the offer a second time when a thought struck her. She paused, tipping her head in a thoughtful manor. After a few moments, her hands lifted up to cross behind her head and her back slouched in a lazy way. "Sure, why not?"

Yukina graced her with a lovely smile, and lifted one of her hands to motion towards the door. "Alright. I'll lead you to the bath so you can wash up while I prepare something for you, then."

"Are you sure you want to trust this demon?" The voice came sharp and clipped, and Yukina turned her attention toward it's owner at the door.

"She's a guest here, Hiei-san, there's no reason we should treat her like a prisoner." The young demon responded, stepping up to the bristling demon without any bit of hesitation. _That_ was something Sai hadn't expected, and she had to fight the urge to put herself between Yukina and Hiei. It was painfully clear _she_ the outsider, and all of the people that surrounded her were very familiar with one another.

He eyed Yukina for a short time, sparing a glance in Sai's direction.

She offered him her best smile, resisting every animalistic urge to show teeth. She leaned forward the slightest bit, pulling her hands from behind her head and wagging her middle and ring fingers at him in almost a taunting sort of way.

His expression twisted into a grimace, and he returned his attention down to Yukina. "I'll be fine," she spoke almost immediately.

The demon before the young woman didn't immediately stand aside, but after a bit of time he took the motions to step back onto the porch.

Yukina turned to Sai, motioning for her to follow along.

Sai couldn't help but to feel a bit of satisfaction. With as timid as Yukina had appeared, she wouldn't have guessed the young demon would have had the nerve to step up to a man that looked like he was ready to bite off someone's head. She put in every effort to keep herself from stumbling, and when she stepped out of the door she offered the red eyed man (Ahem, Hiei, as Yukina had said) a grin. All tooth and fang, and blew him a kiss for further insult. It was just her little way to say _you can't scare me_.

He bristled at her, his expression twisting into a display of animosity. His nose scrunched, and he bared his teeth at her. There was even the sound of a growl rumbling deep in his chest, and the sound caught and echo'd in his throat before hissing passed his teeth. She couldn't stop the bark of taunting laughter that escaped her as she followed after Yukina.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hello lovelies! I had a lot of fun writing this specific chapter. ^-^**_

 _ **This chapter features a lot of details about Raijin's species. Of course, as pointed out, there's no telling if the "Raijin" that was spoken of in the Makai is the**_ **real _Raijin or not._** ** _For those of you who need a visual reference to imagine the Xojorei's size (as explain by our favorite fox), I made a little chart for you guys! Personally, I know it's sometimes hard to visualize some details. If you're interested in it, you'll be able to find the image at ( www{dot}imgur{dot}com{slash}_** ** _6TPi2Wg ), it's suitable for all ages, so no worries!_**

 ** _On that note. This chapter turned out much longer than I had anticipated it to be because of the information being thrown around. Hope you guys don't mind! Think of it as a little apology for not updating as quickly as I have been. You'll notice Yukina uses honorifics, while Botan uses titles. I figured I'd show a little bit of diversity with the characters. For example, someone like Sai wouldn't bother with honorifics_ or _titles, and most commonly thinks in terms of "Makai", "Reikai", and "Ningenkai" while speaking their English names._**

 ** _On a completely unrelated note, naming this chapter was really difficult. Although, when I as reading and finalizing all the little details, once I got to the end - it just popped into my head. I went through reading the chapter one more time, and nothing else came to mind, so it just kinda stuck._**

 ** _Credits: Chapter title named after "Shut up and Smile" by Bowling for Soup._**


	7. Chapter 7: We Can Fly

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Chapter 7

We Can Fly

* * *

As promised, Yukina had lead Sai to the bath house. Of course, it hadn't been without the company of Hiei. Company that Sai could have done well without. He'd followed after them without a word, for only hell knew what reason, and she hadn't bothered to look back at him. She wasn't about to concern herself with discovering the why.

As it was, she'd taken a liking to the young demon. She didn't have any problems barring the path between Yukina and the man behind her. With the way he presented himself, even if he hadn't lashed out at the lovely maiden, she felt more comfort knowing she could act as a bar should he choose to lash out.

She'd crossed her arms back behind her head, and tried her damnedest to walk without tripping over her own feet. It wasn't a perfect gate, and she did end up stumbling more than once. Yukina had offered her help when they'd gotten to the stairs, and she had (politely) refused.

The bath house was a building all it's own. Settled at the back of temple, half emerged into the forest.

Yukina slid open the door, and Sai was greeted with a tradition styled bath. Entering into a communal area where cubbies lined the walls. There were two doors positioned on opposite sides of the wall directly across from the entrance. One read 'men' on the right, while the one on the left read 'woman'.

Sai didn't stray too far into he building. She stood not far off from the entrance to study the communal area, while Yukina branches off to the cubbies on the wall to the left.

Sai took notes of the discarded towels in hampers, as well as the shelves stacked with neatly folded on shelves that stretched between the doors of the men's and women's areas.

While she had been taking a survey of the room, Yukina had returned to her side with a small basket loaded with toiletries tucked into her arms. "You can use my bath supplies, Sai-san, since you don't have any to use yet." Her voice came in the same soft and warm tone that she'd come to expect from the girl.

Sai's attention turned over to Yukina, finally taking notice that the two of them were roughly the same height. It put them at eye level, and Sai couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't noticed before. "Thank you. That's very considerate of you." Dare to say, she actually seemed to return that demeaned of friendliness.

She'd let her arms finally fall from behind her head. One hand settled into her hip, while the other balanced under the basket Yukina offered out to her.

"Towels and wash cloths are on the back wall, and I'll bring you a change of clothes back after I finish making you something to eat." Yukina offered a smile to Sai when she spoke.

Sai returned the expression, although hers seemed less genuine than the younger demon's had been. "You're too kind, Sweetheart." Although it had sounded like an innocent compliment, one that Yukina offered her another smile towards, it hadn't whole heartedly been one.

It was difficult for Sai to view demons in a way that she didn't look at herself. She expected abrasive behavior, bad attitudes, superiority complexes, and shameless displays of strength and dominance. Yukina didn't display anything of the sort. Although Sai did admire it, she didn't know how to form a complete opinion and was met with conflicting emotions.

Yukina bowed to Sai before exiting the bath house. Sai watched her as she left, taking note of Hiei, who stood leaning against the door frame with crossed arms.

She offered him a scowl, and he remained a motionless statue as Yukina walked passed him without batting an eye. The demon disappeared out of sight, but Hiei remained leaning upon the door.

Sai snorted at him, tipping her chin up in an arrogant way. "For someone who's supposed to be the loner type, you sure do like to linger." Her voice was snide, dashed with a layer of her infamous anger.

He sneered at her, his expression twisting into a display that showed more disgust than indifference, and he didn't offer her anything in response.

He did, however, still look at her as if she were inferior. As if she were no more than a bug, and it rubbed her all the wrong ways.

She could play that game. He had absolutely no clue who he was dealing with. She knew how to get under someone's skin, all she had to do was find the right buttons to press. So what if she had promised Koenma excellent behavior? It hadn't been a _serious_ claim, anyway.

She quirked a brow at him, tucking that basket under her arm as she turned to face the man in full. "Were you hoping for a show? I know my ass is fabulous, and you've had a great time staring at it the whole way here, but I'm happy to tell you I'm not interested."

He hadn't spoken to her at all since she'd first met those eyes, and she hadn't anticipated for him to speak to her now. "You don't _have_ an ass in those clothes. In fact, there's not much of you to look at at all." His voice had lacked any sense of humor at all, it was stated in a bland monotone as if it were a matter of fact.

Her jaw nearly hit the floor as she was struck by a brief sense of shock. She quickly snapped her mouth shut, narrowing her eyes at him after his lips curled into the faintest sign of a smug smirk.

"You're the first to complain about my ass, I'm almost offended." She snorted out softly, tipping her head to the side without ever taking her attention off of him. Even though her body was sore, and she was having a difficult time keeping her back stiff and her knees from buckling, she was determined to stay on her feet without any sign of weakness.

"I'm sure it'd look a lot better with you face down and on your knees." He was very dismissive when he spoke, and his voice had taken on a rather bored tone to it.

 _This_ was what she expected from demons. He was nothing different than what she was accustomed to. She was far too accustomed to having both human and demon men take stabs at the fact she'd _could only do something useful in the bedroom._

She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "I was expecting an insult that was more original, you can do better than that. Or maybe I'm giving you too much credit. You are pretty small for a dude, maybe your brain matches the rest of you."

The words had barely left her mouth, and he sprang forward in nothing but a blur of black. Had she been in tip top shape, she could have avoided when he'd grabbed her. The room spun into nothing but a blur, and she found herself being slammed back against the wall, right next to the entrance to the bath house.

"Well this seems familiar." She stained to get out, keeping a grasp on the basket below her arm while her other hand wrapped itself around Hiei's wrist. His hand was around her throat, and after she'd spoken his grip only tightened. Her face twisted into a show of her discomfort, and she couldn't manage more than a grunt from her vocal chords.

"I'll tell you only once. Remember your place here." His voice had turned dark, dropping so low that it teetered on the edge of turning into a growl all on it's own. There was something sinister lingering in his voice, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he didn't have any conflictions about killing her. Apparently insulting his mind had crossed some sort of line.

Even still, she couldn't stop her lips from twitching up at the corners. Offering him a smile that easy displayed her teeth in a wicked way. "Excuse me if I'm not aware of where that is." It was hard for her to speak without the capability to retake the oxygen she'd expended doing so back into her lungs, and they were beginning to burn.

He snorted at her, narrowing his gaze on her. "As it stands, you're at the bottom. Although, I'm sure you're more than use to being under a bunch of men."

She wanted to laugh, she really did. However, she wasn't capable with the way his hand was around her throat. Her gaze narrowed on him, and she reach into herself for a moment. As Koenma had pointed out, she _did_ lack more than just a portion of her energy. However, when she did find it and evaluate it, she took pleasure in discovering there was plenty for the simple task she wanted to do.

She hadn't originally planned on letting any of them in to her capabilities. Considering she was only faced with _one_ opponent rather than three in the state that she was in, she had absolutely no problems with putting _him_ in the place where he belonged.

She pulled a fraction of what remained of her energy from her reservoir, using it to grasp the shadow her so graciously cast her in. She pulled at it, wrapped her energy around it and drew it into herself. It washed over her like a blanket, and it all but appeared as if she'd simply disappeared from the world. His hand grasped at nothing, curling neatly into a fist where she stood.

She was still there with him in front of her, and where his hand lingered was within a distortion of what should have been her neck. She was pleased to note he looked as bewildered as he did angry. She pushed herself away from the wall, stepping straight through Hiei without him ever the wiser. Once standing behind him, back in the center of the room, she turned to face him and released the grasp she held over the shadows.

"It's not wise to underestimate me, boy." She spoke, and he whirled around to face her with bared teeth. Clearly he wasn't happy in the way she had so easily evaded him. "As I said, your mind clearly comes up just as short as the rest of you."

He stood and stared at her in silence, and she made no attempt to continue on with their insulting conversation.

After some time, he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to leave. Once he was out of the door there was merely a blur of black motion, and he was gone.

Without having to struggle to keep her posture in the presence of anyone else, Sai immediately slouched where she stood with a heavy sigh.

Her muscles relaxed, and her knees began trembling where she stood. It had taken much more effort to push through her body's weariness than she cared to admit, and she was disappointed in her own fatigue. Dipping into hat little energy she had wasn't the best of ideas, either, but she did enjoy breathing. Sh drug her feet to gather towels and wash clothes. Tucking them under her free arm.

She turned toward the door to her left, and easily slid it open with her shoulder. Once inside, her hip took care of closing the door behind her.

The floor was the same as it was within the communal area, covered in sandy tiles. Scattered around, the floor slopped ever so slightly towards the drains in the floor. It wasn't anything that was noticeable, unless one stared at it rather hard. It was slopes just enough so that water would be able to easily roll into the drains.

There was a small island in the center of the room, one which held a sink on each side. Behind each of the four sinks, there was a small makeup mirror.

On the walls to the left and right there was an assortment of polished wooden stools, no more than a foot tall, positioned in front of faucets in the wall. Each faucet was accompanied with a bowl beneath of it, with a cup within each bowl.

The back wall had an assortment of stalls, and she assumed they were for toilets. In addition to the stalls, the back wall had one more door positioned in it's right corner.

Sai sighed heavily, stumbling to deposit her towels upon the island. She settled the basket upon the counter, and began shuffling through the items within. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, a hair brush, and red hair ties.

In the bottom of the basket, there was a small sealed clear plastic bag. Within there was a single new tooth brush, a tiny box no bigger than the palm of her hand with a label to help her identify it as tooth paste, and a small bottle of moth wash that might give her two or three rinses.

She popped open the shampoo, brought the cap to her nose and sniffed. The smell of peppermint and eucalyptus assaulted her nose, reminding her of a chill winter's day. It was strong, so she didn't have a doubt that it would do wonderful at ridding most of the bloody smell from her.

Granted that the body and hair products shared a similar color and the exact same name, she could only assume they all smelled the same. This was something Sai was thankful for, as she wasn't a fan of smelling a walking perfume factory.

She reached over to grab ahold of one of the mirrors, pulling it over to rest on the counter in front of her. Her reflection wasn't anything spectacular to look at. "Well I'll be damned, little asshole was right." She muttered softly.

Her appearance was something she took pride in, particularly her hair. Hair which normally was now tangled, caked, and knotted with dried blood. It made the locks look practically black, rather than it's normally out-of-this-world natural color.

She scooped up the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash and tucked them under her arm. She tossed her wash cloths over to one of the stools, and left the rest of the toiletries on the counter top. It was easy enough to stumble over to the stool and sit herself down.

She pushed the bowl beneath the faucet out of the way, and turned the hot water on. Before it even had a chance to heat up, she had braced her hands upon the wall and leaned forward. She ducked her head down under the stream of the water, completely forgoing the task of removing the clothes she wore.

She simply let the water wash over her. First, in cold waved that rolled down the back of her neck and seeped into the fabric on her shoulders. Then, it began to warm with a steady increase in temperature.

Her hair sagged with the weight of the water, and she reached back behind her head to whisk it all over one of her shoulders. The color of dirt merlot soon began to drip from the ends of her hair, and that was when she used her fingers to began the task of untangling the knots. The more she worked her fingers through her hair, the more of that dark red color ashed to the floor and swirled down the drain. By the time she was satisfied, she could easily glide her fingers through the wet locks with minimal resistance.

Eventually, the water became too hot for her to bare, and she reached up to twist on the cold.

She continued on with her task until the red color became less abundant within the water. She grabbed the collar of her shirt, leaning away from the stream of water to tug it over her head and toss it behind her. Her eyes fell down to her body.

Shouldn't he have had wounds? They hadn't been healing during her confinement, but there wasn't a scratch on her to speak of.

She pondered over this for some time, letting her fingers brush over her skin.

She didn't ponder on it for _too_ long, and soon she took to the typical tasks a proper bath would entail. Shampoo, lather, rinse and repeat. She did this three times before she was satisfied, and took to conditioning.

Of course she'd had to remove the pants before taking to nearly scrubbing her skin raw with the body wash.

Once she was wholly satisfied, she shut the water off and rung out her hair. Taking up one of the towels once she returned to the island, she wrapped the wet locks up in it and took up a second to dry her body.

She pulled herself up onto the counter to sit, drying off the bottles of hair care and liquid soap before returning them to the basket.

A thorough rub down came next as she worked the lotion into her skin, taking all the time in the work to massage her fingers into her sore muscles.

A third towel was used to wrap around herself once her task as complete, and she pulled the first one from around her head. It was used to towel dry as best as possible before it was discarded.

She skipped a soak in the hot pool she knew was bound to be behind the door in the back of the wash room, and took to brushing her hair. So brush and brush and brush she did. She brushed it until she was met without any resistance of knots to speak of before she was happy, returning the brush to the basket after picking out the strands that clung to the brush's teeth.

With a delighted sigh, she pulled her hair over her shoulder and began running her fingers through it. She took pleasant note of the dark violet color that had returned, and the way it glimmered with the color of sparkling rubies when the light caught it in just the right way. It waved and curled around on itself all the way down to where it fanned over the counter. If she were to sit straight up, it'd fall down to rest at her hips.

She reached over to the basket to pluck one of the hair ties out, slipping it over her wrist as she took to gathering up her hair. At first it seemed as if she were fixing it into a pony tail, however she didn't pull the strands all the way through the last time and left it in a half hearted and messy excuse for a bun. Spring stuck up and around like a fan at one side of her head.

By the time Yukina had returned, Sai had just nearly finished with brushing her teeth. Determined to scrape her taste buds off her tongue with the violent abuse she was delivering with the bristles.

"You look much better!" The young demon spoke with a twinkle in her eye, and Sai offered her a smile around the tooth brush before spitting the suds into the sink she stood in front of.

"Well, thank you. It's hard to look good when it seems like you're just some homeless bum off the streets." There was a trace of humor in her voice, and Sai shut the sink's faucet off after rinsing the tooth brush under the water.

"I brought you some of my clothes, since I'm the closest to your size." Yukina smile as she offered her the bundle of clothing, and Sai returned it with a less genuine one.

"I'll return the favor, you know." Sai said with a nod, and she meant it.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just happy to be of some assistance." The demon smiled at her once more, stepping outside to the communal area to allow her a bit of privacy while she dressed.

* * *

Yukina had given her a mint colored dress that fit her almost like a glove. Sai was disappointed to discover that they didn't share the same bra size, though. Yukina was an entire cup size more than Sai, and she'd ended up having to stuff the cups to avoid an awkward appearance through the fabric of the dress.

The dress was sleeveless, with a fitted torso and a white elastic waist band that only proved to justify her need to stuff her borrowed bra all the more. It possessed a modest collar that didn't leave any room to sneak a peek at cleavage. The skirt was much more flowing, with an asymmetrical style that left the front hovering just above her knees, where it tapered down to rest at her ankles in the back. In addition to the dress, she had also been given a short, denim jacket that barely reached to her ribs.

The clothes had been far more...human than she had been expecting, but she couldn't complain.

She was sitting in the same room she had been in before Yukina had taken her to the bath house. With the company of Genkai and Kurama in addition to Yukina. There had been one Fairy Girl missing, but she didn't find this fact to be anything out of the usual. She did have duties to attend to as a pilot of the River Styx.

However, she wasn't too happy with the new addition to the group. One large, broad shouldered boy with a crop of curly orange hair in a pompadour style. He, much like the elderly woman and Yusuke, looked completely human when in the company of three demons with rather...unnatural physical traits.

He'd introduced himself as Kazuma Kuwabara, and when she had tripped over her own feet he had jumped to coddle her. Asking if she was alright, and to be careful.

To put it in simple words, she had not received his kindness with grace. She'd snapped at him, bared teeth and all as she protested his assistance. As well placed as it may have been, she would not accept his help.

From there, he had made a point to avoid her, and that suited her just fine.

She'd eaten everything that Yukina had given her, even if she hadn't done it eagerly. Yukina had supplied her with a bowl of white rice, miso soup, mixed steamed vegetables, and a single fillet of grilled fish.

Truth be told, she was rather disgusted with the way it all tasted. It was simply... _not_ food. Not in her mind. Thankfully, no one bothered to ask her if she approved, and she'd been left to eat in silence.

Afterwards, she'd excused herself from the tea room. Yusuke had tailed after her, however upon discovering she'd merely planned to 'take a nap' under the shade of a tree, he quickly abandoned her and disappeared back into the temple.

Of course, Sai definitely _wasn't_ taking a nap. Of course, with the way she had sprawled herself out over the ground it was easy to see how someone could have gotten such an opinion.

No, if she was going to recover any energy at all she needed peace and quiet. Rest without sleep. She found this in meditation. She remained completely aware of the world around her without acknowledging it, and with the soothing sounds of nature that the surrounding forest providing, it was easy enough to remain in a state of between consciousness and comatose.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Hello lovelies!**_

 _ **This chapter doesn't feature anything terribly exciting. The next chapter will be much more interesting!**_

 _ **The highlight of this chapter, in my opinion, is the back and forth between Hiei and Sai. It's not playful or harmless banter, either. It's more geared towards beating each other down, being hateful and hurtful in the most blunt and honest way possible. The comments that amuse me the most are the sexual ones. Let's face it, Hiei was raised by bandits. Unless these bandits were incredibly discrete in their carnal activities (which wouldn't seem likely at all when you honestly think about the etiquette of**_ **demon _bandits), it's easy to expect Hiei to have picked up some rather inappropriate (maybe even vulgar) language. I've never thought him to be as sexually innocent as he's portrayed in as a lot of the fictions that I read. I expect we don't see that in the canon because...we didn't exactly seen him interact (personally) with many female characters at all. Of course here's Yukina, but that's his sister. Mukuro is the only other exception, and we didn't even get a chance to see them interact when they first met. By the time we saw them interacting, Hiei had already been training under her for six months_ and _he thought she was a man._**

 ** _On another note, we've gotten to see one of the abilities Sai is capable of! I'm excited to reveal them bit by bit. I'd love to see any comments, reviews and feedback!_**

 ** _Credits: Chapter title named after "We Can Fly" by Cafe Del Mar._**


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